
Qass F too g* 

Rnnk H 1 1 



CANADA, 

AS IT IS. 

COMPRISING DETAILS RELATING 

TO THE 

DOMESTIC POLICY, COMMERCE AND AGRICULTURE, 

OF THE 

UPPER AND LOWER PROVINCES, 



COMPRISING MATTER OF GENERAL INFORMATION AND 

INTEREST, ESPECIALLY INTENDED FOR THE USE 

OF SETTLERS AND EMIGRANTS. 



BY 

GEORGE HENRY HUME._ 

OF 



^RYOFCOftfG^ 



NEW-YORK. 
WILLIAM STODART, 6 COURT LAND-STREET. 

1832. 



- 



o 



P R E F A C E, 



Canada, whether considered in her political, commercial 
or agricultural relations, has attained an elevation that com- 
mands hoth respect and attention : her growing energies 
are fast ripening to a maturity, that aided by the fostering 
care of the Mother Country, will establish her importance 
in the Western Hemisphere, and enable her to command 
the attention of the world. 

The Geographical situation of Canada renders her at all 
tirnes accessible to the ships of England whilst her resources 
for inland navigation are unrivalled. The noble St. Law- 
rence, pursues a navigable course from the Gulf to Mont- 
real, a distance of nearly five hundred miles : Lake Ontario 
presents a surface equal to that of Ireland : Erie is of a 
similar extent, whilst Huron occupies a space as large as 
that allotted to the British Isles. These magnificent in- 
land seas form the natural barrier to the upper province, 
lending their waters to her inhabitants as the means of com- 
munication and commercial enterprize. 

GIUEBEC, the remarkable fortress and boast of the 
British Crown, in America, rendered impregnable by 
Nature and Art, challenges the regard of the voyager up the 
St. Lawrance, nor does his nearer approach lessen the at- 
traction ; from whatever point the Fortifications are view- 
ed, from the plains of Abraham, from Beauport, from St. 
Rock, or from Point Levi, the highest admiration must be 
A3 



IV PREFACE. 

excited, by their beauty and grandeur. In the summer the 
prospect from the Ciladel is beautiful in the extreme ; let 
us suppose a height of from four to five hundred feet com- 
manding a view of the Noble Stream that, waters its base, 
for an immense distance ; its bosom covered with vessels, 
some stretching their course to the ocean, others entering 
the port, the wharves crowded by individuals engaged in 
loading or unloading their respective cargoes ; whilst the 
hum of industry arising above them, and the cheerful and 
well known chorus as each stick of timber finds its level, 
adds new life to the scene : here may we behold hundreds 
of Emigrants already busied in their newly adopted Country, 
in securing their little properties ; how readily may they be 
reconized, by the astonished gaze at the surrounding ob- 
jects, and by the anxious inquiry how to proceed towards 
the place of their destination ; they contribute to the illu- 
sion of the picture, and render duebec at this season of the 
year a city of the utmost interest and variety. 

The timber trade of duebec either as connected with 
the interior of the country by the employment of labourers, 
or as supplj'ing cargoes for a thousand or twelve 
hundred vessels, is entitled to the most serious considera- 
tion of the Government at home : that one port should be 
able to freight upwards of a thousand ships, in bona fide 
British bottoms, by the means of British capital, and 
what is of infinitely higher importance, through the aid of 
British subjects, is no less cheering than astonishing. In 
addition to the commercial advantages thus realized, how 
important is the encouragement of such a trade with refer- 
ence to the hardy race it supports — the timber trade of due- 
bec, may be considered as a nursery for peamen, that val- 
uable class to whom the whole Empire of Britain is so much 
indebted both in prosecution of the duties of war, and the 



PREFACE. V 

arts of peace ; it also assists in the support of another class 
of men, whose services are scarcely less essential, the 
Raftsmen or Shanteemen — but the advantages of the trade 
are prodigious in other points of view ; hundreds and thous- 
ands of poor Emigrants who are of little value at home, are 
transported by means of these ships to a situation, where 
their exertions largely contribute to the national prosperity ; 
an incredible number of families with scarcely a six pence 
in the world are nevertheless enabled to reach the western 
Continent by means of the timber ships, and are at once 
rescued from miseiy and poverty by the adaptation of their 
labour to the wants of the country. Ireland is relieved of 
some portion of her excessive population, who are too often 
goaded on by want to the commission of the most atrocious 
crimes, and Canada receives a useful and industrious race, 
who can be rendered faithful citizens by the simple remedy 
of employment ; thus these ships, and the country at large, 
may be regarded almost as in the light of a safety valve to 
unhappy Ireland, in relieving her at least from a portion 
of the pressure, which every instant threatens an explosion. 

Should not these combined considerations, then, arrest the 
attention -of the British Legislation, ere they pass an act 
(the non-protection act,) that would blight the prospects of 
thousands, throw a damp over the whole of these provinces, 
and nip in the very bud of their prosperity, the most inter- 
esting and rising Colonies attached to the Empire. 

If it be the intention of England to retain the Canadas as 
colonies, a lukewarm policy will scarcely effect her purpose ; 
a neighboring power has already cast a jealous eye on this 
northern territory, and would gladly seize a favorable oppor- 
tunity for attaching it to her sway ; for with this possession 
America might bid defiance to Europe. Such an union 
can, however, never take place, so long as a liberal policy 



VI PREFACE. 

is adopted towards the Canadians ; identified from motives 
of interest and from long association with the principles fhat 
govern the mother country, they are cheerfully devoted to 
her sovereignty, notwithstanding the anti-British feelings 
that have emanated from a certain class of the community 
of England, as much opposed to the national welfare gene- 
rally, as to the prosperity of the Canadas in particular. — 
The last war produced numerous examples of Colonial at- 
tachment to the ancient home ; the battles of England 
were fought by Canadians, who displayed the utmost hero- 
ism, more especially in an action fought near Lake Cham- 
plain, under the late gallant Colonel de la Saleberry, which 
wo select as the best illustration of their bravery and pat- 
riotism : not that this was a single example, for the whole 
campaign teemed with proofs that the Canadians of the 
Upper Province were essentially British in character a;.d 
lecling. 

A period has arrived when the necessity of protection to 
those colonies can no longer be denied ; their claims are of 
paramount importance not only to themselves, but to Eng- 
land. If we regard the internal policy of other countries, 
what do we behold? On this continent, our indefatigable 
neighbours are striving in the race with their former parent ; 
in manufactures of almost every fabric they are contend- 
ing; if not for the mastership, at least for an equality. Bir- 
minghams and Manchcsters have started into existence, 
and the success of their youthful efforts guarantees the 
future results ; already they compete not only in number, 
in proportion to the population of the country, but in qual- 
ity with the manufactures that boast a century's endurance. 
In the town of Paterson, in the state of New- Jersey, thirty- 
six cotton manufactories are in active operation, and the 



PREFACE. VII 

prosperity of this town is rivalled by that of several others 
in the different sections of the Union. 

In Russia also a successful experiment has been made to 
supply her population from domestic manufactures; the 
artisans of France and Germany excel in some fabrics, and 
are rapidly improving in others, and already are the Euro- 
pean markets preparing to exclude the produce of English 
labour ; — these considerations are surely sufficient to awak- 
en attention to the rising condition of Canada, where an 
increased demand for home manufactures will be created in 
proportion to the increased settlement of the country ; when 
other markets fail, the supply to these colonies will atone 
for the deficiency, and thus every advantage that can be 
now afforded them by England, will ultimately be repaid in 
a tenfold degree. 

The public works in Canada are on the point of accom- 
plishing their promised benefits ; — the Rideau canal, in par- 
ticular, which, under the superintendance of the able and 
indefatigable Lieut. Colonel J. By, is on the eve of comple- 
tion, as the locks, which are admirable specimens of masonry, 
are all finished, and steam-boats and other craft have al- 
ready commenced their passages between Kingston and 
Bytown. " This magnificent undertaking, which may be 
designated as the great channel of Canadian prosperity, as 
one of the principal links in that vast chain of inland navi- 
gation extending from New-Orleans to Quebec, planned 
with so much ingenuity and executed with so much skill, is 
of no less importance in a commercial and political light, 
than as a means of opening and improving the country in 
its track. The design that reflects immortal credit upon 
its proposers, when completely realized, will indeed serve to 
contradict the assertion of an Honourable Member of 
the Commons Bouse of Parliament during the last session, 
A4 



Vlll PREFACE. 

"that it would be better to forego the Rideau canal alto- 
gether, and sacrifice the monies already expended »on that 
work than to vote any further sums for the completion of 
the undertaking." The absurdity of this remark renders 
its contradiction needless, especially as it could only be 
made by one who was totally ignorant of the local bearings 
of the country. 

Bytown, so named after its distinguished founder, is 
situate at the mouth of the canal, and affords tolerable 
evidence of the usefulness of this truly national work ; but 
five years ago, its site was an absolute wilderness — now a 
bustling and lively town occupies the soil so lately covered 
by the forest. Three thousand inhabitants, comprising 
English, Scotch, Irish, Canadians and Americans, have 
here found a home, an Episcopalian, a Roman Catholic, and 
a Methodist church, and a Scotch kirk, have been erected 
for their worship ; there are numerous and excellent stores 
provided with all the varied produce and manufactures of 
the world, for the supply of their necessities, whilst the gen- 
eral appearance of the town, ornamented with several 
handsome stone houses, proclaims its rapid and almost daily 
improvement. In proceeding up the line of the canal, the 
change effected on the rugged face of nature is no less pleas- 
ing than surprising ; the vast interior is opened to the in- 
dustry of man ; the landscape, dotted here and there with 
snug farms and comfortable dwellings, is relieved from its 
former monotony, and the addition of a good tavern to the 
scene, adds to the traveller's and the neighbour's enjoyment. 
For forty miles above Bytown this appearance is presented ; * 
the canal has indeed fertilized the country ! In its passage 
through the centre of the Rideau settlement the same won- 
drous improvement is visible ; houses, mills, stores, and 
buildings of every description, and bridges over the canal 



PREFACE. IX 

that has accomplished all these benefits, testify how much 
has already been done in the profitable settlement of the 
country. 

About five miles above the settlement of Rideau, and im- 
mediately on the line of the canal, is situated the village of 
Merricksville, which has sprung up with astonishing quick- 
ness into a place of considerable consequence ; two years 
ago the spot now covered with well-built dwellings, was a 
solitary wilderness ; a little market town is established in 
the forest land, and stores, mills, and taverns are seen on 
every side. Mechanics of all grades have flocked to the 
infant settlement, which is thus provided with every neces- 
sary establishment. 

The salutary effects accruing from the opening of the 
R-ideau canal, are not howover confined to the immediate 
vicinity of its course ; the communicating advantages are 
and will be experienced through the surrounding country. 
Perth, for instance, a neighboring town and settlement of 
some standing and consequence, will reap immense benefit ; 
it is intended to render the river Tay, running a distance of 
eight miles from that place to the Rideau, a navigable 
stream by the subscription of the inhabitants of the town 
and its neighbourhood, under the immediate auspices of 
Mr. William Morris, of Perth, the highly respected mem- 
ber for the county of Lanark. Passing onwards from Mer- 
ricksville on the line of the Rideau to Kingston, the same 
decided improvement is apparent as elsewhere, — in fact, 
throughout the whole length of country traversed by the 
canal, the results of intelligence and industry have succeed- 
ed to the wildness and desolation of the waste. 

Should then the completion of this work, that in its pro- 
gress has been so productive of usefulness to the infant set- 
tlements on its margin, be abandoned, the prospects of 
A5 



X PREFACE. 

thousands of emigrants will be blasted, the hopes they hive 
been led to form from previous prosperity, deteated, and the 
efforts that have already accomplished so much in the im- 
provements of their condition, paralized. 

The encouragement of public works in Canada provides 
the emigrant with immediate employment, if circumstances 
prevent his early establishment, and indeed the knowledge 
of such undertakings induces numerous bands of labourers 
to seek the country with no other object in view than to en- 
gage in them. The importance of this class of emigrants 
to society will be admitted by all who recollect the scarcity 
and dearness of labour during the last summer, when in 
many of the townships above York, — Markham, Vaughan, 
King, Whitchurch, Georgina, and others, a dollar a day, 
and in some instances, six shillings currency, were paid in 
addition to the board of the laborer. 

The privilege granted to Canada by the Government, of 
the admission of her grain into British ports, under a very 
low duty, has Avrought a surprising change in the habits of the 
farmers ; the land was formerly tilled merely for the sup- 
port of his family, for he had no market to relieve him from 
a surplus produce ; Sumac, the Raspberry, and other woods 
were permitted to grow in the place of corn, and the time 
of the fanner was occupied in shooting or fishing, from the 
imposibility of employing it to a useful purpose in agricul- 
tural pursuit. At the present time he obtains a fair and 
remunerating price for all the grain he can raise, and the 
farm is therefore in good order and continually improving 
in value ; he is enabled to pay excellent wages to a numer- 
ous band of laborers, to clothe his family in British fab- 
rics, and thus in the advancement of his own prosperity to 
reciprocate the advantages afforded to him by the mother 
country. 



PREFACE. XI 

During the last season there arrived at Quebec, about 
49,000 emigrants, the majority of whom were laborers, 
who distributed themselves in the districts of the upper 
province ; still the effect of this increase is imperceptible. 
In the northern settlements bordering on the Ottawa, in 
the Midland districts above and below Kingston, in the 
interior settled parts towards York, on Yonge Street, New- 
market, Lake Simcoe, Dundas Street, Dundas, Hamilton, 
Niagara, the London district, and all the large settlements 
on the shores of Lake Erie, the addition of numbers has 
scarcely been felt, and in fact had three times the quantum 
of emigration occurred in this province, the supply would 
scarcely have been recognized on the face of the country. 

It has been calculated that the number of emigrants to 
Quebec this season, will amount to 80,000, and certainly 
the last reports from England justify the assumption. The 
prejudice in favor of the United States is declining very 
fast in England, and every year will witness a larger arri- 
val into these provinces ; the tide of British emigration 
sets towards Canada, bearing the hardy sons of England 
Scotland and Ireland from countries too densely peopled 
to allow the display of their strength, to a soil sufficiently 
extensive for its perfect development, and abundantly fer- 
tile to reward their exertions. 

Of late years, a number of the middle classes of British 
society have settled in these provinces, in addition to the 
class of poor settlers. Voltaire in speaking of the com- 
ponent parts of the British community, observes, that they 
may be justly compared to their favourite beverage 
" beer" ; the top or the higher orders, is all froth, the bot- 
tom, or the poorer class all dregs, but the middle, excellent : 
this is an overcharged picture, but not altogether without 
its likeness, and from this excellent middle portion of soci- 



Xll PREFACE. 

ety, comprising so much virtuous principle, moral order, 
and superior intelligence, the Canadas have obtained, and 
will yet acquire in a larger proportion than heretofore, 
many families and individuals who contribute so much to 
the well-being and advancement of the country of their 
adoption. 

Montreal, the leading town of Canada, is foremost in the 
march of improvement ; her new streets laid out with the 
utmost neatness and regularity, the excellent houses that 
adorn the suburbs, the convenient wharves, and to crown 
the whole, that splendid edifice, the new Catholic church in 
the centre of the city, which may be regarded with equal 
pride and admiration, as the noblest temple of North Amer- 
ica, are all evidences that the spirit of the times has travel- 
led in this direction. But, this spirit is not only recognized 
in the town ; if we visit the neighbourhood, we witness an 
agricultural system in full operation, that must commend 
it to the notice of the British farmer ; the farms are in a 
state of the highest cultivation, the regular plan of succes- 
sive tillage adopted in England, is here acted upon, and the 
results as may rationally be supposed are no less encour- 
aging. The establishment of agricultural societies in 
the vicinity of Montreal, has been productive of the ut- 
most service to the agricultural interest ; the popular errors 
which were persevered in, simply because they had been 
transmitted from a past to a present generation, the pre- 
judices retained by ignorance, or the caprices dictated by 
folly, have yielded to the spirit of modern discoveries ; the 
farmers of the upper provinces and particularly those in the 
vicinity of Montreal, have adopted the provisions of an 
English system in the cultivation of the soil, and they need 
only ask comparison with the agriculturists of Lower 
Canada, to prove their infinite superiority. It is a subject 



PREFACE. Xlll 

of regret that the Canadians of the lower province are still 
characterized hy their former apathy and indifference to 
improvements, notwithstanding the prosperous condition 
of their neighbours ; but the time will surely arrive when a 
common interest will inspire common exertions in every 
part of this territory, capable of producing equal benefits 
throughout its whole extent. In the different cities and 
towns, individuals are to be found in the exercise of their 
respective vocations, who would confer credit upon any 
European society : the professions are rilled by men of 
character and learning ; the commercial interests are pro- 
moted by Merchants of intelligence and respectability ; 
the trading classes and the Mechanics lend their means 
and their industry to the general weal, so that the increas- 
ing population of this comparatively new country are in 
possession of nearly all the advantages enjoyed by the oldest 
community. A general confidence is experienced in the 
respective exertions of each other ; an indulgence is ex- 
tended to the efforts of the humblest individual ; a recipro- 
cal interchange of commodities takes place from the 
manufactured article, to the animal or vegetable product ; 
the effects of a well regulated society are recognized in the 
arrrangemonts which provide for the education of the young, 
the restraint of disorderly habits, so common in a new set- 
tlement, and an obedience to the laws and the encourage- 
ment of industry : — such are the pleasing results attend- 
ant upon the prosperity of the Canadas. 

There are few circumstances that have contributed so 
much to the condition we have described, as steam naviga- 
tion ; the facilities afforded by the lakes and rivers for per- 
sonal conveyance, and the transport of merchandize and the 
products of the soil have been eagerly accepted ; the freight 
of goods by steam vessels to York, during the last season 



XIV PREFACE. 

amounted to between nine and ton thousand pound*, multi- 
tude?! of emigrants have been conveyed to their place of 
-lesrination, and the staples of the numerous Merchants and 
farmers in the interior have thus been readily transmitted 
to a market. 

The Banks likewise, especially those of Montreal and 
York, have in the mode in which they are conducted, prov- 
ed of incalculable usefulness. The discounts are not only 
liberal as commensurate with the security, but the returns of 
payment are so arranged as materially to increase the value 
of the accommodation : for instance ; a note of one hun- 
dred pounds is discounted at ninety days date ; at the ex- 
piration of that time one fourth of the amount is only requir- 
ed in payment, renewing the note for the balance for an ad- 
ditional ninety days ; another twenty five pounds is then 
paid, with a similar renewal ; a third takes place lor the 
remainder of the time, and the last payment is discharged at 
the end of another ninety day3 when the original advance ia 
liquidated. All these renewals are of course granted at the 
common rate of interest, and without the expense of stamps, 
and by this means the time of a twelvemonth is allowed 
for the complete payment of the loan. There is one fact 
connected with the York Bank that strikingly illustrates the 
present healthy state of commerce in the upper province ; 
when it was first established, a charter was offered, limiting 
the subscribed capital to two hundred thousand pounds ; 
this extensive limit was at the time properly declined by the 
Directors, on account of the infant state of the Colony, 
which rendered the profitable employment of so large a sum 
very precarious, and would therefore have returned but a small 
interest to the proprietors, at the same time depreciating 
the value of the stock in public estimation ; a charter was 
therefore accepted for a bank with one hundred thousand 



PREFACE. XV 

pounds capital. This occurred but a few years ago; during the 
last session of the House of Assembly an application waa 
made and complied with for the extension of the capital to 
the original proposed amount, as the Directors found that 
the increasing demands of the commercial and other inter- 
ests required an enlargment of their accustomed issues. 

In the following description of the Canadas, it is the in- 
tention of the author to convey such information to the em- 
igrant as will assist him in his progress ; the details are 
founded on practical experience, and may fairly be contrast- 
ed with many of the garbled and interested statements that 
have proved injurious to the settler. The individual who 
seeks the Canadas for a home, has much to learn ; a pre- 
vious knowledge of the current affairs of life will serve him 
but little in a new country, where the habits, the practical 
operations of handicraft, the applicability of science, the 
mode of trade, and the pursuits of agriculture are foreign to 
his former experience ; he is introduced upon a scene where 
he is opposed by strange and unforeseen exigencies which 
must be surmounted ere he can pursue his course; his steps 
are impeded by difficulties which must be removed before 
he can track the route leading to his future independence. 
An emigrant blessed with strength and hardihood, and be- 
ing moreover in the prime of life, will not consult his per- 
manent interest by embarking his fortunes in an old settle- 
ment ; a country untouched by the hand of man is before 
him, clothed in a native verdure, and portioned with a native 
fertility — let him strip the forest of her gigantic mantle, con- 
vert the wilderness into the fruitful plain, and force the 
treasures from the bosom of nature. The virgin soil will 
repay the exertions of man by an abundant increase, and 
the proud reflection will be enjoyed of having carved out 
from a mass of incongruous materials, the means of future 



XVI PREFACE. 

support and comfort. There will be inconveniences and 
privations, but let litem be endured ; they cannot resist 
continued exertions, and man will in the end become the 
conqueror. The settler must rise with the lark in his daily 
career ; he must be early in the field, for afternoon 
fanning will not serve his purpose, and this is true not only 
in the commencement of his undertaking, or as applied to 
his daily labor, but in reference to the culture of his land ; 
for it is an admitted fact, that in this country late crops sel- 
dom reward the agriculturist, while early field labor is al- 
most invariably crowned with success. 

The emigrant who possesses sufficient means for his sup- 
port for sometime after his arrival in the country should 
pause ere he determines the place of his settlement ; the 
few extra pounds expended in the survey of the different 
locations will purchase the most valuable information, and 
render him equal to the task of choosing for himself, instead 
of acting upon the interested counsel of others. In travers- 
ing the country, let him visit the various settlements al- 
ready established, regard the conveniences or the ob- 
jections to their situation, and penetrate into the bush, to 
ascertain the capabilities of improvement there presented : 
he can learn little on the deck of a steam-boat, or by a 
continuance in the towns, beyond the common-place in- 
structions that are of trifling benefit. No ! he must dive 
beneath the surface into the recesses of the country, to wit- 
ness the enterprising and persevering exertions of others, 
to discover the gradual development of power in overcom- 
ing the mighty obstacles that oppose the emigrant, and to 
gain a knowledge of the means that have elevated Canada 
to her present prosperous condition. 

In a few years, the whole territory of the Canada, must 
exhibit the appearances now presented in some of the dis- 



PREFACE. XVM 

tricts ; the desert and the forest will have disappeared under 
emigrant labor, to give place to thriving and populous towns ; 
trade and commerce, progressing in the ratio in which they 
have hitherto advanced, will have increased to an infinite 
extent; and a crowded and intelligent population will reap 
the fruits of former toil. The main channel of Canadian 
prosperity is unquestionably her water communication ; her 
inland seas, the vast lakes of the American Continent, and 
the river St. Lawrence have already been alluded to, but 
hardly in terms of sufficient praise; no country in the world 
can boast a similar extent of lake navigation, and in no 
country can be discovered a stream of greater beauty and 
usefulness; whether wc regard the St. Lawrence, the grand 
boundary stream, as a natural defence in war, or as the great 
channel of Commerce in peace, it is equally entitled to our 
admiration ; the advantages it arlbrds in each respect can 
only be estimated by the consequences that arc every where 
apparent, in the increasing wealth of the country, and the 
happiness of its inhabitants; in the metamorphosis of a de- 
sert into a thriving and populous state. 

The exclusive right of British subjects to the navi- 
gation of this liver, has an important reference both 
to the political power, and the trading privileges of the 
Provinces ; to share this privilege would be to anticipate the 
eventual loss of the Canadas, for in the first place the carrying 
trade to the British shipping would be engrossed by others, 
and the facilities of smuggling be increased; and in the second 
the interests of two separate powers would so often clash in 
the prosecution of a mutual privilege, as to be productive of 
the utmost confusion, and finally terminate in the anihila- 
lation of Colonial prosperity. It is however almost impossi- 
ble to imagine the commital of such an act of folly, notwith- 
standing the plausible arguments of our Commercial oppo- 
nents;, for although it were admitted at the present period thai 



XV1I1 rilEFACE. 

the expanse of navigable waters in Canada affords ample 
range for the shipping of both countries, it may be reason- 
ably surmised that ere the lapse of many years, the British 
and native tonnage will be doubled or trebled in the Colonial 
trade, and that the St. Lawrence will become the Baltic of 
America through the exercise of the protected energies of 
these Provinces. 

The wealth of every country cansists in a surplus product 
beyond the necesities of consumption, whether through the 
agency of the husbandman or the manufacturer ; Canada is 
already capable of raising an immense surplus, and is there- 
fore in the possession of immense wealth — with her present 
limited means of cultivation, her great staple, wheat, forms 
an article of profitable export, and there can be no doubt 
that if the country were brought to its proper bearing, and the 
surface adapted to its legitimate purpose throughout its ex- 
tent, a supply of grain could be raised capable of relieving 
the severest necessities of the mother country, and render- 
ing her independent of a foreign state for the food of her 
inhabitants. But, there are prospective as well as actual 
advantages ; in the article of hemp, an admirable opportu- 
nity is offered of rendering England dependent upon her 
colonies rather than a stranger ; the very best quality 
might readily be grown in Canada, as much to the advan- 
tage of the grower, as of importance to the merchant, in the 
improvement of the soil on the one hand, and the encourage- 
ment of trade on the other. These are sufficient examples, 
although others might be named, of the actual and possible 
resources of this territory ; extent of surface, fertility of soil, 
goodness of climate, and an increase in population are the 
assistants to her prosperity, and the ability of the exporting 
such an amount of native produce as will pay for the import- 
ed articles, must ere many years, have witnessed the exer- 



PREFACE. XIX 

tidnS of the population, place heron the same level with the 
most favoured countries. 

The great misfortune of England is her excessive popula- 
tion, over a small tract of Country ; the drawback upon 
Canada, is the want of a sufficient number of inhabitants — 
thus the interests of both countries are served by emigra- 
tion ; the former parts with that, which is a burden upon her 
soil, whilst the latter receives the only gift that can render 
her soil of advantage. Important as emigration is to Can- 
ada, it is yet of more consequence to the poor of Britain • 
the frequent accounts of their abject misery, of the wretch* 
ed poverty that too often drives them to the commission of 
crimes, are sufficient inducements to the philanthropist to 
promote their removal from the scene of distress ; an op- 
portunity is afforded them, upon the cheapest terms that 
a benefit was ever proposed, of exchangeing beggary for in- 
dependence, starvation for plenty, idleness and disease, for 
health and exertion : they effect a beneficial alteration in 
their own circumstances, and at the same time lend import- 
ant aid to the society in which they are received. It is not 
desirable that all emigrants should be in affluent circum- 
stances ; the duty required at their hands is varied in its 
kind, from the labours in the study, the office, and the lab- 
oratory, to those at the loom, in the field, and'in public works ; 
there is occupation for all, employment in every description 
of trade and handicraft. The poorest individuals are ren- 
dered valuable assistants to the general community, and 
there are repeated instances of families who upon their ar- 
rival did not possess the means to purchase the next meal, 
having attained to a condition of decent competency. If 
such individuals had remained at home, how different their 
lot ! doomed to suffer poverty and want, to eke out a mis- 
erable exjatciuaa by subsisting upon the chanty of the be- 
B 



XX PREFACE. 

nevolent, they would have lived as miserable dependents 
and oppressed society still further by entailing a needy off- 
spring upon its members ; as emigrants, on the contrary 
the opportunity for bodily and mental improvement is of- 
fered to them ; they have no excuse for refusing it, and in 
the majority of instances the force of example operates as a 
spur in its ready acceptance ; they work and their labour is 
rewarded, they earn more than is'required for their wants, 
they save money, purchase property, become lords of the 
soil, and hold a stake in the advancing prosperity of the 
country. 

As yet, the population of the Canadas is trifling in com- 
parison to its extent ; notwithstanding the length of time 
they have been attached to the crown, and the number of 
emigrants who have arrived, vast tracts are untenanted ; 
hitherto a large number of families who had left the English 
shores for the American continent, travelled through Can- 
ada to the United States, or embarked for ports in that coun. 
try, in consequence of the encouragement they received to 
s ettle in N. York, Pcnsylvania Ohio &c, an encouragement 
which was was denied to them by their own government ; 
latterly the system has been happily changed, protection 
has been extended to the emigrants in the British provinces, 
and, as might have been expected, Canada receives by far 
the larger portion ; thousands of subjects are thus retained 
in their allegiance, British property is rendered more valua- 
ble by their assistance, and the national welfare is promoted 
by their instrumentality, at the same time that their own so- 
cial enjoyment is secured in all the relations and comforts of 
existence. 

The settlement of some individuals in the Canadas, pos- 
sessing a eonsidcrablc capital, is unquestionably an object 
of much interest and importance ; the value of the money 



PREFACE. XXI 

introduced into the country in directing labour, and in ac- 
complishing under one design great measures of improve- 
ment, is no less experienced than the benefit-afforded to 
society at large, in the example displayed by their conduct 
and behavior,; they in fact check the growth of rudeness 
and vulgarity, — they are the promoters of education, which 
bears as strongly upon the moral as the intellectual condi. 
tion of the population, and they keep up and regulate that 
social order in the community, and if we may so express it, 
that tone in Canadian society that adds to the convenience 
and the happiness of all. 

The subject of emigration is an important one, and it 
w ould be singular if it possessed not its opponents as well 
as its advocates ; so often, indeed, have these met in argu- 
ment, that the topic may be said to have been sufficiently 
examined for the discovery of its merits and defects. We 
have already alluded to the past and present condition of 
the Canadas, and urged the absolute necessity of a large 
population, if it be intended to relieve the mother country 
from the burthen of supporting them ; their soil is waiting 
for the labourer, their natural advantages are ready for ac- 
ceptance, the thick forest requires but the industry of man 
to convert it into the fertile field. What the United States 
have done, that can the Canadas perform, but only through 
the same means — an immense increase of population. 

There are no arguments that can weaken the importance 
of these facts as they apply to this t territory. As far as regards 
emigration from the British Isles, it has been asserted, that 
if all the means of employment were duly appropriated in 
those situations, there would no longer be any necessity for 
the settlement of their inhabitants in distant lands ; — this 
sounds well, but the theory alone exists ; if we could re- 
model society, or engraft some new elements into its com- 
B2 



XXII 



position, a new order of circumstances might arise, and 
arrangements that suited with every class of society be ac- 
complished ; but, in the mean time, what remedy can be 
proposed for the relief of the abject and starving thousands, 
who convert once merry England into a scene of the deep- 
est distress, — who fill the prisons in Ireland, and groan un- 
der the miseries of poverty in Scotland ? They are unas- 
sisted by ingenious theories, and unaided by arguments of 
what ought to be done ; — the hungry are not fed, nor the 
naked clothed by such philanthropy. The evils endured 
are evident beyond contradiction ; and the only mode by 
which they can be lessened, is emigration, which gives to 
tens of thousands the means of support, and the comfort- 
able home denied them in the land of their birth. Let the 
authorities, then, in the various parishes of Britain, whose 
inhabitants are taxed almost beyond endurance for the sup- 
port of their poor, contribute in the formation of a fund, 
that in its application shall relieve their complaint; the 
remedy is in their own hands, and consists simply in pro- 
viding each applicant with the means of transport to Cana- 
da, and a small sum in his hands when he arrives at Quebec : 
thus will they get rid of incumbrances upon their own pro- 
perty, and at the same time afford the fairest means in pro- 
moting the happiness of their fellow-beings. The partial 
relief extended to paupers, who express'an inclination to pro- 
ceed to the western continent is a most improvident applica 
tion of funds ; the trifling sum yielded is barely sufficient to 
pay their expenses to the nearest sea-port, — and thus they are 
thrown upon another portion of society with the same wants 
as before. Give to the emigrant sufficient to pay his pas- 
sage, and support him for a short time after arrival in his 
new country, and if he possess the moral or physical ability 
of improvement, \\p must sucrped in working out In? own 



FREFA( E. XX Hi 

independence, and will probably gain all the comforts < I 

existence. The present lot of those individuals N 
parents settled in Canada, is an admirable illustration of 
these remarks ; they arc in the possession of excellent 
farms, of large and profitable tracts of land, they hold a 
most important stake in the prosperity of the country, and 
rank with the most useful members of the community ; how 
were these advantages procured ? By the very exertions 
now required at the hands of the emigranls ; they were the 
same race of people as the present, distinguished by the 
same character, depressed by similar misfortunes at home, 
poor but hardy, destitute of means, or very nearly so, upon 
their arrival, but determined to persevere in overcoming the 
first obstacles, and laying the foundation of future benefits. 

In reviewing, then, the previous considerations, it appears 
that there are three prevailing circumstances in favor of 
emigration to these colonies; firstly, the comparative short 
distance from Britain, as under the present improvement in 
navigation, the voyage is accomplished at the average rate 
of thirty days ; secondly, the extreme healthiness of the 
climate, as proved by the condition of the population ; and 
thirdly, the facilities presented for immediate employment, 
by which the necessities of the settler are provided for. 

If it be said with respect to the healthiness of the climate, 
that the assumption is contradicted by the prevalence of 
swamps in some districts, the objection is easily resist- 
ed ; — granted that the swamp land is unwholesome, how 
long, let it be asked, can this continue? Until the country 
is supplied in all its parts with a population, who will drain 
these swamps, and render them the finest meadow land in 
the world. Canada is not singular in this respect ; nearly 
every country in its infancy has been subjected to diseases 
arising from collections of stagnant air and water; hut di- 
B3 



XXIV PREFACE. 

rectly the industry of man has cleared the forest, and drain- 
ed the swamp, the sources of those diseases have been dried 
up, and a pure atmosphere reigns in the place of the miasm 
that heretofore prevailed. In those districts, where settle- 
ments have been formed, no complaints of this nature can 
be entertained, and in proportion as the country is redeemed 
from the waste by successive bands of emigrants, the 
swamps and the sickness they occasion will disappear, 
whilst fertile meadows and a healthy people will proclaim 
the change that has been effected in the face of nature. 

It only remains for England duly to appreciate the natur- 
al advantages of theCanadas,and to act towards them with 
a liberal and enlightened poliey that shall not only improve 
their domestic welfare, and add to the happiness of thou- 
sands who seek them as a home, but that shall increase their 
rising national importance as connected with the mother 
country, and render them willing assistants in the exchange 
of commercial friendship, and powerful auxiliaries in circum- 
stances of difficulty, whenever they may occur. The germs 
of future greatness are sown, and will ripen and bear fruit 
in due season, provided a parent's hand will protect their 
infancy. 



CANADA 



In describing the condition of the Canadas at 
the present period, it is intended to confine the de- 
tails principally to the Upper Province, inasmuch 
as it is mostly settled by natives from the British 
Isles, as it possesses a superior climate, is under 
the operation of English laws, and altogether pre- 
sents superior attractions to the settler than Lower 
Canada, which is essentially French in the prevail- 
ing manners and customs, in its mode of govern- 
ment, and moreover, is but very partially settled 
by Europeans. 

The first land made in crossing the Atlantic 
Ocean to Canada, is Newfoundland, and presents 
a rugged and forbidding appearance from its high 
and craggy rocks ; the scene is however soon 
changed upon entering into the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence, and in about two days' sail, the river of that 
name is approached- The attention of the voyager 
is irresistibly attracted to this noble and gigantic 
stream; upon the northern shore the eye is not re- 
warded for its gaze, for a high and barren land 
htes afar, untouched bv the hand of industry? 
I- 



2 CANADA AS IT IS. 

until within fifty miles of Quebec ; the southern 
shore however atones for this dreariness in present- 
ing continued evidences of cultivation, and on this 
bank of the river are observed many neat houses 
and villas, all painted white. Within a few miles 
of Quebec arc the falls of Montmorency, high- 
ly deserving of notice, and after passing them, 
the city soon rises in the view to claim the admir- 
ation of the passenger ; its numerous handsome 
buildings, its extensive churches, with their tin 
covered roofs glittering in the sun, and their hand- 
somely painted turrets, the stretch of the bay, mar- 
gined with the abodes of a thriving population, 
render the appearance of the whole as imposing 
and brilliant as it is agreeable. 

The lower town of Quebec strongly resembles 
many of the seaports in Europe, in its prevailing 
activity, and the same race of bustling inhabitants 
are recognized. The city is chiefly inhabited by 
French Canadians, and in its general appearance 
may be compared to a French town : there are 
two or three very good markets, well supplied 
with excellent beef, mutton, veal, poultry, &c. 
together with the peculiar produce of the country, 
such as maple-sugar, lish, and a variety of home- 
spun wares, manufactured by the habitors. 



CANADA AS IT IS. '6 

The shops are spacious and plentifully stocked 
with goods, some of which will suprise the new- 
comer by their apparent cheapness ; for, instance, 
he may purchase brandy at seven shillings a gallon, 
rum at six, and whiskey at two and sixpence ; and 
the very cheapness of these articles has too often 
been the means of destruction to the settler. On 
the opposite bank of the St. Lawrence stands the 
picturesque village of Point Levi, in which are 
erected many comfortable villas, and the country 
around the city is well cultivated by some of the 
old country farmers, who display the knowledge 
of a superior system of agriculture. 

About ten miles from Quebec, is the interesting 
village of Indian Lorette, consisting of about one 
hundred houses, and principally inhabited by In- 
dians of the Huron tribe, with a slight mixture of 
Canadians. The four chiefs who visited England 
a few years ago, reside in this place, in very neat 
and clean wooden houses : they all possess some 
relics of their visit, hung up in the most conspicu- 
ous parts of their dwellings, and appear to set 
much value on an excellent engraved portrait of 
his late Majesty George the Fourth. John Vin- 
cent, the principal Chief, and who is also styled 
king of Lorette, has, in addition to the portraits, 
two medals, one gold, and the other silver, of con- 
B5 



4 CANADA AS IT IS. 

siderable value, which the king personally present- 
ed to him.* There are two extremely neat and 
clean Catholic churches in the village, one for the 
Indians' and the other for the Canadians' worship ; 
the former is handsomely decorated with an abun- 
dance of images, and the roof bespangled with 
gilded dots, and is regularly attended by a devout 
congregation. These Indians, and others of their 
tribe, receive annual presents from the British 
Government, as equivalents for their conceded 
territories. 

The passage from Quebec to Montreal is pleas- 
ant, particularly in fine weather ; the,accommoda- 



* In a visit paid to this village by the author and a 
party of his friends, the utmost hospitality was exercised 
towards them ; his Majesty was not at home upon their 
arrival, but the Queen, a good looking Squaw, did the 
honours and received them very cordially, presenting 
cakes, maple syrup &c, for their refreshment. Her 
Majesty with her daughters were busily emplo\ r ed in 
making fancy baskets for sale, and observed, that she was 
obliged to work, but that the Queen of England was 
both paid and kept. In a short time the King returned 
home, with a rush basket suspended from his neck, con- 
taing a hare and some wild fowl, the produce of his day's 
sport : he was a tall good looking man, about fifty years 
of age ; was very courteous to his visitors and appeared 
exceedingly kind and attentive to his wife and family, 
who evidently regarded him with much respect. 



CANADA AS IT IS. O 

tions are of the very best order, the rate of travel- 
ling expeditious, the viands extremely good, and 
the company generally respectable. The fare in. 
the steam-boat Cabins is six dollars ; in the steer- 
age one dollar. The country now wears a more 
pleasing aspect — neat villages, and some good 
farms appear, and the lands are generally in a 
tolerable state of cultivation. The scenery of 
the St. Lawrence is agreeably diversified by the 
appearance of the steam-boats, and other vessels 
passing to and fro : occasionally an immense raft 
of timber comes from the upland country, cover- 
ing at least an acre ; and then the light canoe, 
gliding gaily over the surface. These canoes are 
a species of craft which (although frequently car- 
rying from three to four tons burden,) are composed 
of such slight materials (the bark of the birch tree,) 
that were they to strike against any hard 'substance, 
they would immediately become leaky, or batter 
in their sides : yet with these slight bark's do the 
Indians and others frequently ride out the rough- 
est squalls in perfect safety. 

Were it not for these canoes, some of the rivers 
in the upland country could not be navigated, for 
the parties engaged on those occasions, have not 
only to carry their freight, but also their boats over 
the portages, and even for ten or twelve miles at 



b CANADA AS IT IS. 

some places, to avoid the rapids and falls of the 
rivers. 

The Canadians of the Lower Province are nearly 
all Catholics, and pay implicit regard to the rights 
of their religion. Crosses are erected on the road 
side, from which are suspended various religious 
relics ; and at their feet, morticed in the post, are 
portraits of our Saviour, enclosed in glass cases : 
in many places his figure is extended on the cross 
and few Canadians pass these symbols of their 
religion, without paying them due reverence. 

Nearly all the lands in the Lower Province are 
parcelled out in seignorial manors, and held under 
the old French law ; the seignor or proprietor ex- 
acts from his tenants, by virtue of their tenures, 
certain annual fines ; hence large tracts of land 
are bona fide the property of one lord ; and al- 
though the rents or fines exacted are not heavy, yet 
they are at variance with the spirit of a free country, 

A man occupying land under these tenures has 
no stimulus to improve his farm beyond the pre- 
sent day, knowing that he cannot hand down his 
property to his own family, and is even deprived 
of it himself if he fail in the obligations attached to 
it ; — these considerations tend in a great measure 
to prevent the advancement of this part of the 
country. 



. CANADA AS IT IS. 7 

In travelling from Quebec to Montreal by 
land, you continue nearly the whole way on the 
banks of the river, which is pret(y thickly settled 
by Canadians, not many Europeans being found 
amongst them. 

Montreal is a large, handsome, well-built town, 
very much improved within these ten years, par- 
ticularly in the suburbs, which are ornamented by 
many well-built villas, with gardens attached, in 
the highest state of culture, and yielding a profu- 
sion of fiuit and vegetables. Although the dis- 
tance of Montreal from Quebec is but one hundred 
and eighty miles, yet so much more forward is the 
climate of the former, that the vegetables and fruits 
are at least a month earlier than in the latter place ; 
indeed, the markets of Quebec are regularly sup- 
plied from hence with the early summer produce. 
The orchards in the neighborhood of Montreal 
are very prolific, and amongst other fruits produce 
one beautiful apple, called the " pomme-de-gris," 
of delicious flavor, and vast quantities of which 
are barrelled, and sent to various parts of the pro- 
vince, and even to France, the country of their 
first growth, where they are considered as supe- 
rior to the original fruit. 

The Montreal markets are admirably supplied 
with meat, vegetables, &c, and at a low price ; 



INADA iS JT IS. 



for instance, beef and mutton, three pence per 
pound ; veal and ham by the quarter, equally low , 
geese, two shillings and sixpence ; turkeys, three 
to five shillings ; fowls, from nine to eighteen 
pence a couple. In winter, fish, (principally cod and 
oysters,) are brought hither from the seaport towns 
in the states, a distance of five or six hundred 
miles, in a frozen condition ; hundreds of pigs, 
likewise frozen, are transported to the Montreal 
market. At this season of the year, a general 
gaiety prevails ; an endless throng of sleighs flock- 
ing to the town on business or pleasure, their 
horses caparisoned with jingling bells, and a busy 
population crowd the streets, intent upon the pur- 
suit of their several avocations. The hotels are the 
most comfortable places for the sojourn of the 
traveller,, and the charges about a dollar a day, 
including all expenses — no fees to servants being 
necessary. 

Most of the consignments -of goods from Eng- 
land and other parts, to Montreal, are disposed of 
at public auction ; and it is surprising to observe 
the low prices obtained for the different kinds of 
manufactured wares, although this may depend in 
#ome measure on the supply. 

Montreal is justly termed the key to Upper 
Canada, for here ends the navigation of sea board 



CANADA AS IT IS. if 

vessels ; consequently, those goods destined for 
the upper country, are warehoused in the town, 
and almost all consignments are made to the 
resident merchants ; and although some few of 
the merchants residing in the upper country, are 
their own importers, they, for the most part, come 
to Montreal to make their purchases, which occa- 
sions a great interchange of communication with 
all parts of the upper province. 

There are five weekly papers published, each 
very creditably conducted ; the Canadian Courant 
is of long standing, and has a good circulation ; 
the Montreal Gazette is also ably conducted ; the 
New Montreal Gazette and the Herald belong to 
one proprietor — the former, a literary publica- 
tion, generally comprising very interesting matter ; 
the latter with a large advertising patronage, and 
usually containing much and important information, 
and the Montreal Herald, which has a more ex- 
tensive circulation than any. Montreal and its 
suburbs contain a population of about 50,000, com- 
posed of the inhabitants nearly all countries, although 
by far the greater part are Canadians. The roadsnear 
and around the city are excellent, for Mac-Adam- 
izing is now as common here as Day & Martin's 
blacking ; indeed they go hand in hand, for in 
many parts of (he province, win. re Mac Adams' 



10 CANADA AS IT IS. 

system has not been adopted, Day & Martin 
would be an intrusion and a mockery. 

Montreal is a busy, bustling town, the shops 
appear to be well attended with customers, the 
market filled with various commodities, and the 
streets thronged with people of all grades. The 
air in the vicinity of the city is considered more 
salubrious than in any other part of the Province, 
which is in consequence of almost all the Signory 
of Montreal (an Island of about fourteen miles by 
twenty five) being clear and in a state of cultiva- 
tion, thus allowing the admission of a thorough 
current of air to purify the atmosphere; and as a 
proof of its salubrity, people live to a good old 
age. Were the forests cleared in the other parts 
of the Province, and free currents of air admitted, 
they would be equally healthy, and those local dis- 
eases, fever and ague, hardly known. 

Many publications have appeared at different 
times, some containing the most exaggerated state- 
ments, which would tend to raise the expectation 
of the emigrant too highly, and others the grossest 
errors, and serving only to intimidate him. Should 
the settler arrive in Canada with agricultural views, 
let nothing, under any circumstances, or represent- 
, ations, induce him to purchase lands at home ; he 
must see and judge for himself. In the first place. 



CANADA AS IT IS. 11 

the land may not be good, the part of the country 
may not suit him, there may be no roads, no ways 
of communication, and many other difficulties only 
to be ascertained by personal observation. 

Canada, in a state of nature, is an universal 
forest, which is a fact not generally known, and the 
timber is of little value but for home purposes, and 
making ashes : it is almost an unerring rule, that 
the different kinds of timber denote the different 
qualities of the soil on which they grow ; thus, on 
the best lands will be seen maple, oak, elm, and 
bass wood and this land will be found best for culti- 
vation ; swamps covered with white cedar, (which 
will make excellent and durable fences,) are con- 
verted into the finest meadows ; and pine, (either 
white or red,) beech, birch, or poplar, denote the 
poorest soil, not altogether unfit for cultivation, 
but of the worst description. The system of farm- 
ing here is so different to that pursued in England, 
that the most inexperienced person, if he be only 
willing, will soon rival the most skilful agricultur- 
ist. Farming implements of every kind are of 
such different construction, and so easily procured, 
as to render their importation unnecessary. A 
person with adequate means would do well to 
bring a thorough good stud horse, something be- 



12 I AN ADA AS IT IS. 

tween the cart and hack, a good young hull, some 
cows and rams, a mixture of the South Down and 
Leicester breed. This would be both troublesome 
and expensive, yet if the imported stock be of 
good character, it is certain to pay well : it would 
be of no use to bring inferior cattle, as there are 
plenty here already, and improvement is only 
wanted. Furniture, such as bureaus, tables, 
chairs, or any other heavy kinds of goods, should 
be purchased here, whilst blankets, bedding, and 
all kinds of portable goods will prove a valuable 
investment. 

The first step to be taken on arriving, if the 
land be wild, is to erect a shantee, which is a rough 
dwelling, composed of logs of wood saddled one 
on the other at the ends, with a roof, some com- 
posed of shingles, some of scoops, that is, halves of 
the logs of wood, hollowed out, some of slabs, and 
lastly cvered by the bark of the ash-tree. The chinks 
are well stuffed with moss, in order to render it 
warm, the house partitioned off into rooms, and a 
very comfortable dwelling is ereeted with little 
trouble. Persons if they choose, might, even at 
first, build a frame or a stone house, as stone of the 
first quality for building is to be had almost every 
where ; but it is more prudent to erect the log hut as 
above described, and for this reason — when you get 



CANADA AS IT IS. 13 

si burn on your land, you are very likely, from its run- 
ning, to burn down trie dwelling, and should it be a 
shantee, the loss will be comparatively nothing. — 
After the erection, clearing the land must be atten- 
ded to, commencing to under-brush or cut down 
all the small trees, not more than six inches in di- 
ameter ; these should then be collected and piled 
in heaps. The chopping or cutting down the large 
trees succeeds, and these are again junked up into 
lengths of fourteen or fifteen feet each, the tops 
thrown on the brush heaps. If the land be chop- 
ped and underbrushed by contract, the general 
price is eight dollars an acre ; to be chopped, un- 
der-brushed, logged-up, burnt, and fenced, sixteen 
dollars per acre ; the best time for underbrushing 
the land is in the early part of the fall, so that no- 
thing may impede the process of chopping during 
the winter, for in Canada the ground is covered 
with snow, generally about eighteen inches deep, 
from the month of December to the beginning of 
April : after having chopped the land, it is necessary 
to wait until the weather becomes dry and warm 
(which may be expected about the 10th of May,) 
before the brush-heaps are set on fire, when it will 
(if properly managed) run regularly through all 
the land that has been chopped, burning the dry 
leaves and all the dead vegetable matter accumu- 
C 



14 CANADA AS IT IS. ' 

lated on the surface of the soil, and thereby making 
a good manure. After the burn is completed, the 
land should be logged up, by putting the junks of 
the large trees that have been already cut up, into 
heaps of about twenty together. This should be 
done by a yoke of oxen and four men. Oxen 
will be found of the utmost value to a new farmer, 
being more tractable and steady amongst the 
stumps and intricate places, than horses, which 
are apt to plunge and destroy their harness. After 
the wood is thus piled, it must be burned, and un- 
less either pot or pearl ashes be made, it should be 
strewn over the ground, as it is an excellent ma- 
nure. 

The choice of the crop depends a great deal on 
circumstances'; — the time when the burn takes 
place, the nature of the soil, or probably the do- 
mestic wants. Should the soil be good, and the 
logs have happened to be burned about the middle 
of May— "Spring wheat, peas, barley, or oats, may 
be sown, should either of those kinds of grain 
be desired ; grass seed and clover should be 
sown with them, as the new settler should always 
provide himself with pasture land, in order to graze 
his stock, and cut hay as soon as possible, par- 
ticularly should he think proper to keep one or 
more cows. If the soil be rather sandy, and it 



CANADA AS IT IS. 15 

can be got in order by the 25th of May, Indian 
corn and pumpkins would be a good crop. The 
manner of planting the seed is very simple : drop 
into the ground four grains of the corn, removing 
the mould on either side with a hoe, leaving the 
distance of a yard between each ; and at every 
fourth, plant a pumpkin-seed, leaving a little hil- 
lock about two inches deep on each. Corn thrives 
infinitely better when planted with pumpkins, for 
they spread so much over the soil, that they pro- 
tect the roots of the corn from the rays of the sun, 
thereby securing to them a degree of moisture. 
Pumpkins here grow very large, and are, in the 
fall of the year, an excellent food for pigs ; 
Indian corn is not only a good food for pigs, but it 
is at all times a marketable article ; and is of great 
service in a family, affording a light and agreeable 
meal, when made into a kind of thin pudding cal- 
led Sepaun ; it is made with little trouble, and 
eaten with milk or maple molasses. Indian meal 
is also an excellent substitute for wheat flour, and is 
made into cakes called johnny cakes ; when mixed 
with a portion of flour, it makes a bread, that for 
delicacy or lightness is not be surpassed. In the 
winter of 1829, the wheat crop having partially 
failed, many people substituted the johnny cakes 
for bread throughout the winter. 
C2 



16 CANADA AS IT IS. 

Potatoes will do well in a sandy soil, and are 
more valuable than any other crop to the new 
farmer, as they will serve both himself and his 
cattle : the very finest potatoes are raised here, 
particularly when they grow in a new soil, not be- 
ing so good where the land has been a few years 
under cultivation. The returns of the crops that 
are to be expected, vary according to the soil and 
manner of its tillage, but the following is the gen- 
eral average. First, spring-wheat seldom gives 
more than twenty bushels to the acre, winter-wheat 
from thirty to fifty, barley, in good land about for- 
ty, oats thirty to forty, peas about twenty five ; 
Indian corn is the most prolific and gives a return 
of upwards of four hundred per cent, but being 
thinly planted it seldom returns more than from 
thirty to thirty five bushels to the acre : it thrives 
best in a dry season ; forming in its first growth a 
kind of funnel which retains the moisture of the 
dew (which is here very heavy) nearly the whole 
day : it vegetates rapidly, having been known to 
spring six inches in twenty four hours, and grows 
to the height of nine or ten feet, and when at its 
growth, and in bloom, it presents a very beautiful 
appearance. Mr. Cobbett has informed us, that 
all the Indian corn he has grown in England, has 
been of the dwarf kind ; and it always will be so : 



CANADA AS IT IS. 17 

for the climate is not congenial to its production. 
Potatoes, independently of their excellent quality, 
give a very large return, from two hundred and 
fifty to three hundred and fifty bushels the acre. 

To emigrants of some property, the oldest set- 
tled parts of the country will generally be found 
the most desirable : the settlements on the St. 
Lawrence, near and above Brockville to Kingston, 
thence to York, and far above it, the roads will be 
found excellent, and the society, for the most part, 
respectable. Good mechanics would find ample 
encouragement in most of the towns, and smiths 
and carpenters would do well in the country settle- 
ments. Professional men have generally the a- 
bility to judge for themselves in the choice of situa- 
tion, but it may be observed that there is a large 
field for the- exercise of their respective talents. 
As regards the law, that in operation in the upper 
provinces is founded upon the rules of English 
practice, which however unequal in some respects, 
however capable of being converted into an engine 
of oppression in the hand of unprincipled practi- 
tioners, is yet superior to the code of the lower 
province, and in the hands of men of honor and in- 
tegrity may work for the general good. In Upper 
Canada the transfer of property is duly protected, 
and its investment whether it be personal or real, 
C3 



81 CANADA AS IT IS. 

secured according to the wishes of the owner. In 
Lower Canada, on the contrary, under the opera- 
tion of the French law, a man may buy an estate, 
commence improvements, and occupy his soil in 
the expectation that he has secured a home for life, 
when at the expiration of three or four years, in 
comes a mortgagee, and wrests his property from 
him ; there is scarcely a possibility of guarding 
against this misfortune, as no law exists for the 
registry of conveyances or mortgages. Again, a 
wife on her death bed can, by virtue of the same, 
law, absolutely will and make over one half of the 
property to her children or even to strangers, to 
the total exclusion of her husband. These are 
evils that loudly call for redress. 

There is also room in the Upper Province for 
medical men, and particularly for those who can 
reconcile themselves to live in the country, and 
unite a little agricultural with medical practice. 
There is no lack of employment, although it too 
frequently happens that in the event of an accident, 
the patient has to be brought to the doctor, some 
twenty or thirty miles, instead of the doctor visit- 
ing the patient, and for a very simple reason : in 
addition to the medical charge, the practitioner re- 
quires (and properly so,) so much for his travelling 
expences, for without this regulation he could not 



CANADA AS IT IS. 19 

possibly attend upon distant cases, in a country 
where travelling is so tedious and so frequently de- 
layed : it therefore happens, that as the poor man 
cannot pay for the journey of his doctor, in addition 
to his attendance, he must neccessarily seek his 
abode for treatment. 

The poor, but healthy emigrant, desirous of em- 
ployment can readily obtain it either in the neigh- 
bourhood of the public works, or in the dis- 
tant districts of the Province ; if he possess a 
small sum and be anxious to settle on land, his 
wishes may easily be gratified, when his own pru- 
dence and industry will afford him the present 
means of support, and the future prospect of inde- 
pendence ; let him refrain from the vice of intem- 
perance, take plenty of exercise m the open air, 
retire with the sun, and again rise with him, and 
he will experience the full enjoyment of health, 
and improve both his moral and bodily strength. 
The appetite created by exercise and labour, 
will be satisfied with simple aliment, and the 
excellent pork, that he can raise himself or purchase 
at a very cheap rate will suffice for his general 
diet. An absurd remark was made in one of the 
papers in the last fall, that the common food, fried 
pork and potatoes, was injurious to the health of 
the emigrants ; to this it may be replied that the 
C4 



£0 CANADA AS IT IS. 

abuse of spirituous liquors causes two thirds of the 
sickness in these provinces, that the tood com- 
plained of is sufficiently good and nourishing, and 
that it has never been and can never be productive 
of any evil to the laboring classes of the community. 
As the means of the settler increase, his addition- 
al comforts are provided for ; his fall cattle supply 
him not only with a variety of food, but with the 
materials for the manufacture of his soap and can- 
dles ; his wants are nearly all supplied by his 
farm, and he commences his independent existence 
through the continued exercise of his industry. 

TJiere is always a great variety of lands both in 
a wild and cultivated state for sale by private indi- 
viduals, the description of which may be found in 
the different newspapers. 

The Canada Company may be regarded as the 
principal body^ through whom lands are obtained ; 
their chief office is in York, but in almost every 
town they have established an agent, and books 
of reference are left in many respectable taverns 
for the information of the public. The company 
have had a large tract of land surveyed on the 
borders of Lake Huron ; it lies about one hundred 
and eighty miles north west of York, and though 
there are many places even farther distant that are 
desirable for occupation, having excellent roads and 



CANADA AS IT IS. 21 

a continuation of good settlements, yet the Huron 
tract is as yet much too far in the wilderness, and 
is but thinly peopled. The company have lands 
for sale in all the upper Provinces, but as ample 
opportunities offer themselves in the more settled 
parts, there is no necessity of going so far into the 
wilderness. Large portions of those extensive 
tracts of land granted by government to military 
officers and others for past services, remain in their 
original forest state, without cultivation of any 
kind, and with their townships less improved than 
any others in the Province. The reason of this 
may be traced to the impolicy of giving three or 
four lots to one man who is thus in all probability 
unable to improve his land in the same ratio as 
those around him ; there are unquestionably many 
characters who from former services, are fully en- 
titled to the reward they have received in such 
grants, but since it is the aim of this new coun- 
try to cement the interests of society by thickly 
and well settled townships, and thereby ensure the 
erection of churches, schools, and mills, as well as 
the formation of good roads, the claims should 
be equalized as much as possible, in order to ren- 
der the contribution of labour to the general service 
of equal value to each individual, in the advan- 
tages secured. It must be admitted, that the mili- 
C5 



22 CANADA AS IT\IS. 

tary townships are the least improved of any in the 
province ; large blanks of uncultivated land are 
sometimes observed, and in their original forest 
clothing, while all around them is fertility. This 
disposition of the land leads to another inconveni- 
ence in preventing the church from being built in 
the centre of the township; or where the greater 
part of the inhabitants are settled, and as the roads 
in such situations are generally very bad, a large 
portion of the population are debarred the ability 
of attending divine service, as well from the dis- 
tance from the church, as from the difficulty of 
reaching it on account of the roads. 

The price of wild land averages from one to 
four dollars an acre through the Province, 
but in the immediate vicinity of towns, from six to 
eight ; the usual terms are, that one fourth of the 
purchase money be paid down, and the remainder 
by equal yearly instalments. Should the emi- 
grant purchase his lands either of Government or 
the Company, the title is unquestionable, but when 
he deals with private individuals, he should employ 
at once, a respectable attorney, as there is a mode 
sometimes practised in order to dupe the unwary ; 
the settler buys a block of ground, and pays the first 
instalment, the vendor then, instead of returning 
the deed, gives a bond promising to produce 



CANADA AS IT IS. 23 

the deed at some future day, when probably 
the land is not absolutely his own property ; he 
disappears and the purchaser has no redress The 
deed for the land should always be executed on the 
firs t instalment being paid, and lodged in the hands 
of some respectable third party for the due protec- 
of all, for even where no chicanery is intended, the 
original possessor might die before the deed is 
due, and it would be very difficult to find his heirs, 
executors, &c. A person, with ready cash might 
purchase a very good farm of two hundred acres, 
with from fifty to seventy acres under cultivation, 
well fenced, with a dwelling-house, barn &c, for 
about three hundred pounds, which is the most pru- 
dent beginning in a new country for those who 
have the means. 

The price of good Canadian horses is about £25 
the pair, or span, as they are called : these are a 
kind of small cart horse, well adapted for this 
country. Cows fetch from four to six pounds ; 
oxen from fifty to eighty-five dollars the pair or 
yoke : sheep from two to four dollars each : 
young pigs taken from the sow at a month, one 
dollar, two months old, seven shillings and six 
pence ; good store pigs from three to five dollars. 
A barrel of salt pork, containing two hundred 
pounds of meat, from twelve to twenty two dollars ; 



24 CANADA AS IT IS. 

a barrel of Hour containing one hundred and ninety 
six pounds, from six to nine dollars. Wheat was 
sold in Montreal during the last season for six 
shillings, and six and nine pence a bushel ; at 
Yorkfive shillings and seven pence halfpenny (or as 
it is termed nine N. Y. shillings) has been the cur- 
rentpricethroughoutthe season; above York, at Dun- 
das, Hamilton, and their neighbourhoods, the price 
hasbeenfive shillings. When a Canadian farmer can 
procure a dollar a bushel for his wheat, he has no 
right to complain. Oats at Montreal will bring at 
an average price, one shilling and six pence a 
bushel ; at Kingston the same •; and at York from 
fifteen to eighteen pence ; peas about three shil- 
lings ; barley three shillings and four pence, and 
more of this grain is required than is at present 
grown in the upper province : potatoes generally 
average about one shilling and six pence a bushel. 

On the Ottawa river, where the timber trade is 
carried on, to its largest extent, oats arid hay fetch 
a much better price than elsewhere, but in the oth- 
er products there is little or no difference. In the 
last winter the Ottawa oats realized two shillings 
and in the spring they commanded a ready sale at 
three shillings and six pence a bushel : hay while 
selling at Kingston, York, and some other places 
for ten dollars a ton, brought from twelve to fifteen 
on the Ottawa. 



CANADA AS IT IS. 25 

The general price of Indian corn over the Prov- 
inces, is from two and nine pence to three shil- 
lings and three pence a bushel. A good sized fat 
ox will bring from eight to ten pounds, and a young 
ox for work is of the same value from their constant 
employment as beasts of draught ; indeed, an ox is 
not fattened for the butcher until it is growing old. 
Butter and cheese made in Canada find a ready 
and profitable sale. 

It is necessary to observe that the prices here 
named refer to the Halifax currency, as it is termed; 
there is a considerable difference in the value of 
Canadian and English money, amounting at the 
usual rate of exchange to about seventeen per 
cent. The English shilling passes for fourteen 
pence ; the dollar, worth in the British Isles about 
four shillings and two pence, is circulated as five 
shillings ; the English sovereign is worth one 
pound, three shillings and four pence ; so that an 
emigrant bringing out one hundred sovereigns, is 
nominally worth one hundred and sixteen pounds, 
fourteen shillings and four pence. It is a subject 
of some importance to the traveller to be able to 
calculate his expences, particularly in this, his 
newly adopted country. If he ascend the St. Law- 
rence in the direction of York or Kingston, or any 
intermediate place, the fare may be secured on to 



26 CANADA AS IT IS. 

Prescott, which in the cheapest manner of travel- 
ling will cost about three dollars a head. The 
steam navigation does not extend lower down than 
Prescott. When at this place, if the settler in- 
tend to proceed up the country, he may embark 
on board the steamer to Kingston, in the best cab- 
in for five dollars, in the steerage for one dollar ; to 
York for ten dollars in the cabin, in the steerage for 
two. There are no perquisites required either in 
packet and stage travelling or in the taverns, indeed 
a servant would regard the offer of a gratuity in the 
light of an insult. There are now three large steam 
boats running from Prescott to York, the Niagara, 
the Queenston and the Alciope ; a very large boat 
upon nearly double the scale of any of them is now 
building by the Messrs. Hamiltons of Prescott, 
which will be afloat this summer, and of. course 
render the facilities in travelling, even greater than 
they are at present. If it be the object of the set- 
tler to locate himself on the Ottawa, at By-town, 
or in its neighbourhood, he may proceed from 
Lachine about ten miles from Montreal to Point 
Fortune, for three dollars, from thence to Hawks- 
bury by land for five shillings, and from Hawks- 
bury to By-town, a distance of sixty miles, for an- 
other three dollars. In this route, the pleasing ev- 
idence of agricultural improvement will be recog- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 27 

nized between Montreal and Lachine, whilst well 
finished and regular built houses, neat and thriving 
farms, and an endless and fanciful variety of gar- 
dens greet the eye in every direction. Lachine is 
a long straggling village on the water side, wjth 
nothing particular to invite the attention of the 
voyager ; from this place the journey may be con- 
tinued through lake St. Louis, and about fourteen 
miles above Lachine, the junction of the noblerivers, 
the St. Lawrence, and the Ottawa, may be observed 
running their course side by side through the lake, 
without an admixture of their waters. A dark 
reddish stream marks the track of the Ottawa,, 
while that of the St. Lawrence is distinguished by 
its clear blue colour ; the separate courses of the 
rivers are thus continued, until the rapids of Caril- 
lon are gained, when the violence of the current 
unites them in one impetuous flow. The military 
post of Coteau de lac where Government retains a 
small garrison, next receives the traveller, from 
whence sometimes by batteaux, (large boats) and 
sometimes by land, an easy passage is secured to 
Prescott. This is a comfortable little town, with 
many good houses and stores, and the country 
around is well cultivated. Prescott is rendered of 
some importance from its situation, as being the 
place where the regular navigation terminates, and 



2b CANADA AS IT IS. 

the opposite town to Ogdensburg on the American 
side of the St. Lawrence, and which is a place of 
considerable size and importance. The commu- 
nication between the two places is almost hourly, 
by means of tow boats, which have to cross a 
channel about a mile in breadth. The traveller 
here, has a ready opportunity of visiting our enter- 
prising neighbours, but he may be reminded that 
no contraband trade can be carried on, as the au- 
thorities on each side are sufficiently attentive in 
the performance of their respective duties. In the 
summer time, the life and gaiety of Prescott are 
greatly increased by the numerous arrivals to and 
departures from the upper parts of the Province. 
It is desirable that individuals, as they are passing 
through the country f unless they are bound to some 
particular spot) should look at the newspapers in 
the various places through which they pass, as 
farms and situations for location are frequently 
advertised, on the line of route, some of which may 
correspond with their means and inclinations. 
These inquiries may occasionally tre productive of 
a little delay, but the time thus occupied, so far 
from being lost, will both lend useful information, 
and probably supply to the inquirer a comfortable 
home. 



CANADA AS IT IS. 29 

As the St. Lawrence is still ascended, the scene- 
ry on the north bank is well deserving attention ; 
thus, the British side is agreeably diversified with 
good stone residences, large orchards and gardens 
well stocked with fruit trees of every description, 
and many neat and even handsome little villages. 
This part of the country is chiefly remarkable for 
the large quantities of pot and pear lashes manufac- 
tured. An emigrant who purchases a lot of wild 
land, on which there is abundance of elm, ash, ma- 
ple, and bass-wood timber, may, if the piice of the 
articles be tolerably good in Montreal, (say from 
30 to £35 a ton for pot, and from 33 to £38 for 
pearl ashes) pay the expenses of clearing the land, 
provided he chooses to risk the first outlay. The 
expense of erecting a pot ashery is not heavy, and 
the process of manufacture is very simple. The 
whole outlay if but one kettle be employed, is from 
30 to £35 ; if the kettles be used, it may amount 
to fifty pounds. Having the leeches erected (that 
is, large tubs with holes in the bottoms) its floor- 
ing is strewed with lime about eight inches thick, 
trod clown hard ; the leech is then filled with ashes, 
and watered regularly until their strength is com- 
pletely extracted ; during the time the leeches are 
running, the ley already procured from them is 
kept boiling for about two days and a night, when 



30 CANADA AS IT IS. 

it forms a consistency called " black salts." If 
peari ash be the object, these salts are taken out of 
the kettle, and placed in an oven erected for the 
purpose, and there by a process of evaporation, 
formed into the desired material. Should the in- 
tention be merely to make a pot ash, the boiling is 
continued until all the ley is procured that from 
eighty to one hundred bushels of ashes will supply: 
as the water evaporates, the mass assumes a va- 
riety of different colours, such as green, blue, yel- 
low, &c, and at length an extreme fire being 
kept up, it presents a consistent surface of the co- 
lour of melted lead, which is then drawn off or ladled 
out into iron pans to cool, forming in this last pro- 
cess, the substance denominated potash. Pot and 
pearl ashesare two of the principle staples of Cana- 
da, and are of essential importance, both as an ex- 
port and for domestic use, and so well is their value 
understood, as to induce the preservative of all 
the ashes produced by the fires of the family, which 
are readily disposed of to the potash manufacturers 
in the neighbourhood. 

About twelve miles above Prescott, stands the 
handsome town of Brockville, so named from the 
late distinguished General Sir Isaac Brock ; it has 
been built since the last American war, and now 
contains upwards of three thousand inhabitants. 



CANADA AS IT IS. 31 

The river begins to widen at this place, or in other 
words, to put on the appearance of a lake ; and 
about twenty miles above Brockville, Lake Onta- 
rio itself is perceived. The river sceneiy is now 
greatly enlivened by the steam-boats and tim- 
ber rafts, especially in the spring of the year ; on 
these rafts, little cabins made of the bark of trees 
are erected, presenting the appearance at a dis- 
tance of many immense bee-hives, and by this con- 
veyance, merchandize, yokes of oxen, and the 
commodities permitted to be brought to Canada 
from the American side, are readily transported. 

Amongst the variety of American produce thus 
received into Canada, the most singular consists 
of whole cargoes of pigs, brought on the rafts, two 
or three hundred at a time. Live stock pay a very 
low duty, and hence our neighbours find these pigs 
a very profitable article of commerce. 

Lake Ontario now commences, and the first 
place in this route on its borders, is Kingston, a 
large and well built town, and the principal navaV 
station on the Lake. Its appearance has been 
considered somewhat like that of Portsmouth, in 
England, and the resemblance is assisted by its 
white cliffs, and by some large ships that are here 
laid up in ordinary. The St. Lawrence, a line of 
battle-ship pierced for 130 guns, two frigates, some 
D 



32 



CANADA AS IT IS. 



sloops, &c ., attach a character to this safe and ex- 
cellent harbour. Kingston is altogether (if the 
expression be orthodox) a fresh-water sea-port 
town ; is clean, large, and well built, and may 
already be ranked as a place of great importance. 
The markets are exceedingly well supplied from 
the cultivated lands in the neighbourhood ; and it 
is the residence of a great number of opulent and 
highly respectable inhabitants. It has of late years 
been supposed by some individuals, that the seat 
of government would be removed from York to 
Kingston ; but the building a new house of assem- 
bly at York, together with other preparations, con- 
tradict the assumption that the legislatorial offices 
will be removed. As a commercial town, Kings- 
ton ranks the second in Upper Canada, although 
her prosperity received a serious blow, a few years 
since, from the effects of which she is but just re- 
covering. The consequences of free trade were 
bitterly experienced in Canada, and Kingston in 
particular suffered. A want of confidence pre- 
vailed, the colonial bank paper was depreciated, 
and at length the bank compelled to suspend its 
payments, and wind up its accounts. These cir- 
cumstances are how happily contrasted by the pre- 
vailing prosperity ; a second bank has been esta- 
blished in the town through the exertions of Chiis- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 33 

topher Hagerman, the representative for Kingston, 
and Solicitor General of Upper Canada, who in- 
troduced and carried through the House of Assem- 
bly a bill for its incorporation. The establishment 
of banks in any part of the country always is posi- 
tive and pleasing evidence of prosperity ; and as 
they lend means to industry and enterprize in pro- 
secuting undertakings for public as well as indivi 
dual advantage, they must be considered as con 
tributing towards the real interests of the country 
at large. 

Kingston will probably become a place of much 
importance, as well from its central situation in the 
province, as for being the principal naval station. 
In the neighbourhood, the population is greatly in- 
creasing, and thriving townships appear in quick 
succession on that land, which a few years ago pre- 
sented the desolation of the wilderness, and had 
scarcely been passed by the foot of man. The 
bear and the wolf held undisputed range, where 
the fertile meadow and the farm yard now exist : 
these marauders are still more plentiful than desir- 
able, but they recede in proportion to the advance 
of settlers, and in a few years the country may be 
freed from them altogether. 

Should the route from Montreal to Upper Can- 
ada be preferred by way of Ottawa, and through 

r>2 



34 CANADA AS IT IS. 

the heart of the country from By-town to Kings- 
ton, the journey may be made either by land or 
water from Montreal to Point Fortune : in the 
journey by land, the traveller continues in lower 
Canada until he reaches Grenville, (40 miles) 
which is opposite to Point Fortune ; on the road 
are many Canadian villages, although in this part 
of the lower Province there are more British set- 
tlers than elsewhere, St. Anne's is a pretty rural 
village on the banks^of the Ottawa, and it was here 
that the Irish bard, Thomas Moore, composed his 
" Canadian Boat Song." At Grenville, the Gov- 
ernment are making a canal, twelve miles in 
length, in order to avoid the rapids of the Long 
Sault : for some time the work was not carried 
on with the energy and expedition which marked 
the progress of the Rideau canal, although it is 
now continued with greater rapidity, and when 
finished it will be of the utmost consequence to the 
navigation of the Ottawa. The voyage from 
Grenville to By-town is performed in a steam- 
boat in rather less than 12 hours, whereas four 
years ago it employed 30 hours ; at that time there 
was scarcely a settler between the two places, but 
now on both banks of the river there is an aston- 
ishing change ; although on the Lower Canada 
side of the Ottawa, with the exception of its imrne- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 35 

diate banks, the country is wholly in a state of na- 
ture. For many hundreds or even thousands of 
miles, this part of Canada has never been thorough- 
ly explored ; a small party went in this direction 
about two years since, but they returned with no 
other information than that there were some hkes 
and beaver meadows, in that section of the Province; 
and as it doubtless contains much fertile land, 
it is to be lamented that it has not been properly 
explored. On the approach to By-town, the scene- 
ry which bursts most unexpectedly on the view, is 
scarcely to be surpassed for its boldness and sub- 
limity : the first objects that strike the attention are 
the Rideau falls about two miles below the town ; 
these are two distinct falls, which rush over the 
precipice in the form of a curtain from a height of 
about fifty feet : the Union Bridge (so called from 
connecting the upper and lower Province by cross- 
ing the Ottawa, which is the boundary line between 
them) novr opens to the view, and presents a piece 
of architecture that reflects the highest credit on 
those who accomplished such a gigantic under- 
taking ; the current of the river is here broken by 
tremendous rocks, on which rest the abutments 
of the bridge ; the centre arch forms a span of 
two hundred and seventy feet, which may give 
some idea of the immense labour and difficulty re- 
D3 



36 . CANADA AS IT IS. 

quired in its accomplishment : it is let at a yearly 
rent of about i2200, each foot passenger paying a 
penny, horses two pence, and so on. 

Immediately above the bridge are the falls ex- 
tending across the Ottawa, called the " Chandiere 
Falls," these assume all imaginable forms, but it is 
in the winter, when the river is frozen over, that 
they present the most interesting appearance : the 
ice accumulates to the very edge of the falls, and 
in congealed masses down the ledges of the rocks, 
becoming transparently white from the intense 
freezing, and forming apertures through which the 
dark red waters of the Ottawa rush with an incon- 
ceivable fury, the foam casting up the frozen parti- 
cles, which, from the rays of the sun, assume every 
variety of hue. The Union Bridge leads from By- 
town to the village of Hull : which is now a very 
large and well settled township ; it owes its first 
settlement to Mr. Philemon Wright, who came to 
this spot about thirty years ago, when not a tree 
was cut. 

Mr. Wright, justly called the father of the town- 
ship, is an American gentleman, who has given 
proofs of an enterprising and persevering mind ; 
he has lived to see his numerous followers arrive at 
a state of comparative affluence, and as the coun- 
try in which the township is situated is entitled, 



* CANADA AS IT IS. 37 

from its increased population, to send a member 
to the house of Assembly, Mr. Wright has, very 
properly, been returned this last election as its 
representative, and since that period an additional 
member has been elected. The township of 
Hull is skirted by a ridge of mountains, being a 
continuation of that chain, which is seen for some 
distance at the back of Quebec ; they are sup- 
posed to extend for some thousands of miles, and 
are even believed to be a continuation of the An- 
des in South America. A part of the mountains 
near Hull have been explored and are found to 
contain, deeply embedded, great quantities of iron 
and lead ore, black lead and marble, and some 
minerals, and although it is probable that coals 
might be found, none have been yet discovered ; the 
iron ore produces 75 per cent, or three fourths of 
iron. These mines have not hitherto been work- 
ed, from the want of persons competent to the un- 
dertaking, both as respects pecuniary means, and 
ability to engage in the task. But a field of enter- 
prize is doubtless open to the individual who 
would commence a search for the treasures con- 
tained in the bowels of the earth ; at present a 
vast mass of property lies dormant and utterly use- 
less, but let it be redeemed, and immediate oppor- 
tunity is offered of transporting iHo a scene of use- 



38 CANADA AS IT IS. 

fulness, as By-town is not more than 12 miles 
distant, and there are various other places that 
would participate in the advantage, and reward a 
spirited projector. 

By-town, independently of its close connection 
with the Kideau canal, will in all probability be- 
come a large and important place ; both from its 
central situation in a fertile and well settled coun- 
try, from its close connection with the lumber 
trade of the Ottawa, and from its importance as a 
place of strength and safety in the event of a war ; 
all combine to warrant the supposition that By- 
town may ere long become a place of considerable 
importance; but the furtherance of its prosperity 
will be very much retarded if the means available 
be not at hand ; many men who have ability and 
energy for large undertakings and who have also a 
bona fide property though not available, cannot 
procure discounts at either bank in the Province; the 
distance is too far, the parties are not known — thus 
rendering it impossible although a part of the coun- 
try is in a healthy state of commerce and growing 
prosperity, and there are objects of enterprize 
which, with the assistance of available capital 
would be productive of the best consequences to its 
immediate neighborhood, in the diffusion of wealth 



CANADA AS IT IS. 39 

to the surrounding country, and hence of conferring 
immense benefit to the Province generally. 

The state both of trade and agriculture in 
the vicinity of the Ottawa, is very prosperous ; 
therefore their united financial wants call for 
the establishment of a bank in By-town. We 
have before enlarged on the importance of such an 
institution in other parts of this new country, and 
regarded it as the means, from whence an en- 
couragement to industry might be derived ; the 
same result would succeed were a similar assist- 
ance in the shape of a bank, granted to the several 
interests of this populous and flourishing neigh- 
bourhood. The arguments against banks are 
founded upon contracted notions of public policy, 
and the absurd desire of rendering three fourths of 
a whole population dependent upon the remaining 
fourth, for the necessary degree of support and 
assistance. 

When a country generally is in a state unable to 
bear its burthens, when commerce is forced be- 
yond its proper limits, a circulating paper on- 
ly acts \uth advantage as a prop to a decayed 
building, which the longer it is kept up, the more 
sudden will be the crash of the structure ; but in a 
young and rising country whose sources of wealth 
are but just in the bud, when the legitimate objects 
D5 



40 CANADA AS IT IS. 

of commerce are only just beginning to develop 
themselves, but yet possess an absolute though un- 
available property, here local banks are indispen- 
sable ; they are the very veins through which the 
wealth of a country flows to its natural and proper 
channel. 

The township of Huli, Mr. Wright's settlement* 
is mostly settled by American natives, a very re- 
spectable body of people who give substantial 
proofs of unwearied industry and application. 
Hull is a remarkable thriving and well settled 
township ; in which several very substantial lum- 
ber merchants reside ; but there are two brothers, 
in partnership, remarkable for the extensive busi- 
ness they carry on in this trade. Their christian 
names are Job and David, and by which they 
seem to be equally well known from Quebec to the 
pine regions ; these individuals are entirely indebt- 
ed to their industry and perseverance for the advan- 
tages they possess, and which are conspicuous in 
the surrounding neighbourhood ; if a traveller in 
this neighbourhood demand to whom such and such 
a raft of timber belongs, the answer will frequently 
be, ' Job and David;' if a handsome span of horses 
are ' on the road, the same reply may be given to 
a similar question, and so of other species of prop- 
erty of which these reputable individuals claim the 



CANADA AS IT IS. 41 

ownership. The partners reside together in a 
long white house on the Hull road, about two 
miles from the Union Bridge. 

The inhabitants of this part of the country are 
well disposed towards one another, and readily 
contribute their assistance in cases of urgency ; 
when a settler is unable to hire laborers, and yet 
wishes to erect a house, build up a barn, log up his 
land &c, he calls a bee, as it is termed, and which 
simply consists in summoning all his neighbors to 
his assistance ; this plan of mutual aid also pre- 
vails amongst the females, who raise bees for 
sewing, knitting, making up bedding, or for any 
other domestic purpose ; thus through a general 
spirit of kindness, very considerable undertakings 
are accomplished, which would have been beyond 
the reach of individual effort. There is a trait in 
the character of this population, that deserves hon- 
-orable mention ; that is, strict honesty, of which 
one pleasing instance may be offered : Captain S. 
a highly respectable gentleman, who had returned 
from the naval service, and is now a resident on 
the opposite side of the Ottawa, when he first con- 
templated a settlement in the country, visited the 
Upper Canada side of the river, then a complete 
wilderness ; during the period of three or four 
months, he left his goods on the Hull side of the 



42 CANADA AS IT IS. 

river to the amount of seven or eight hundred 
pounds, including many articles of a portable na- 
ture, in a mere shed with scarcely any fastening, 
and although this was by the river side, he found 
upon the removal of his property, that he had not 
lost the slightest article. 

There are new settlements forming in all the 
intermediate places on the Lower Canada side be- 
tween Hull and the Chats, about thirty miles dis- 
tant ; and which is becoming a place of consider- 
able importance. Here are the falls of the Chats, 
consisting of fifteen distinct falls,extending to a dis- 
tance of two miles across the Ottawa ; and between 
each fall there is a clump of pine trees ; these 
falls ,are extremely novel from their regularity ; 
and here nature seems to have copied art, for al- 
most all the fifteen except the centre fall are near- 
ly uniform ; the centre is precisely in the shape 
of a horse shoe, and it still adds to the interest 
of this scene that at a distance of about twenty 
feet from the bottom of the centre fall, the water 
in a circumference of perhaps twenty or thirty feeU 
bubbles or boils up to a height often or twelve feet 
above the surface of the river, and has the perfect 
appearance of a foaming cauldron. A gentleman, 
Mr. White, one ot the principal contractors of the 
Rideau canal, has lately made a purchase of some 



CANADA AS IT IS. 43 

property adjoining, and is about to carry on con- 
siderable improvements. He is now preparing to 
build a steam-boat, to run from the Chats to By- 
town, when in operation, which will give a new 
life to this part of the country. The Hudson Bay 
Company have their first boat established at the 
Chats, and the Company of late years having lost 
so many ships in the passage round by sea, intend, 
it is said, in future, to make the Ottawa their 
regular route to their principal forts and posts in 
Hudson's Bay. Above the Chats are some new 
settlements, Clarenden and Mac Nab. This lat- 
ter settlement was established by a Scottish chief 
of that name. " Laird Mac Nab" of Mac Nab, 
who has prevailed on a great many settlers to join 
him from Scotland, and the system he adopts in his 
little colony is somewhat similai to the old Scot- 
tish customs. 

The country above the Chats is not much set- 
tled ; indeed at the distance of thirty or forty miles 
the pine regions commence, where the red or 
Norway timber trees are the sole possessors of 
the soil. These groves are supposed to extend 
for hundreds of miles, although the country in their 
direction has only been partially explored. In the 
fall of each year, a considerable number of persons 



44 CANADA AS IT IS. 

visit this tract of country, remaining until the follow- 
ing spring, to prepare the timber for market. 

Near the Chats is the township of Fitzroy but 
partially settled, and adjoining it is Ramsay a re- 
spectable and populous township ; nearer By-town 
are Goulburn and Huntley, both thickly settled, 
the latter containing some of the best lands in the 
Province. On the front of the Ottawa, are Tar- 
bolton and March, both thinly settled, although 
containing many respectable officers who have re- 
tired from public service. 

The whole of this part of the province being cold- 
er than the western portion, is perhaps not so well 
adapted to the pursuits of agriculture ; but it still 
presents many advantages to the settler, the chief 
of which may be considered the healthiness of its 
climate. 

The river Ottawa abounds with fish, supplying 
to the settlers on its margin a vast supply of de- 
licious and wholesome food ; in the summer sea- 
son pleasure can be joined with business in their 
capture as they come down the small streams in 
shoals ; when dried and salted they make a good 
store food for the winter. The largest fish in the 
Ottawa is the Masquinonger, averaging from twen- 
ty to forty pounds weight, and resembling the pike 
in colour and in the shape of the head, but in- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 45 

finitely superior in flavor. The cat-fish, so call- 
ed from its near resemblance to that animal, may 
be considered the most valuable fish of the Ottawa ; 
they are sufficiently fat not to require any butter or 
pork in cooking, and are regarded, with justice, as 
an excellent and nourishing food. In addition to 
these are the pike, the perch, sun-fish (a small Hat 
fish having the appearance of a sun on the side) the 
bass, the white fish, succer mullet, eel, pickerel, 
&c. They are easily caught, and will take almost 
any bait that is given them, either abitofpork r 
frog, or should nothing else offer, a piece of an old 
moccasin. 

The Ottawa also produces the sword fish, very 
formidable either in or out of the water ; it is de- 
structive to -the other species of fish, and when 
caught will be found most troublesome to disen- 
gage from the hook, as it snaps in a most for- 
midable manner with its double row of sharp 
teeth. 

Not half a century ago, the banks of the Ottawa 
were peopled almost entirely by Indians of the dif- 
ferent hunting 1 tribes, Micmacs, Shawnees, &c. ; 
they have now wholly retired from these parts, and 
are not to be found in any numbers within two or 
three hundred miles above the Chats, occasionally 
coming down to dispose of their furs. They have, 



46 CANADA AS IT IS. 

for the most part no settled habitation, but live a 
roaming life, with all their little wealth, (consisting 
generally of a few blankets, a gun, some traps, iron 
pots, and a few other necessaries,) in their canoes. 
They are, when unmolested, a harmless, inoffen- 
sive race ,• but in their wars amongst themselves, 
they practise the most barbarous cruelties. If 
once offended, they are implacable, and never for- 
give an injury. When the North West Company 
existed, one of the gentlemen connected with that 
Company, had by some means offended an Indian 
with whom they dealt in furs ; this gentleman had 
occasion to go to England immediately, and did 
not return for five years. When he did return, it 
was soon known to the Indian, who was seen one 
morning lurking about the fort with a loaded gun, 
He was taken into the fort and asked his pur- 
pose ; he candidly owned that he waited the ap- 
pearance of such a gentleman, whom he meant to 
shoot. For his treachery he was hanged without 
ceremony. 

Their entire occupation, during the winter 
months, is hunting wild animals, such as the beav- 
er, martin, mink, otter, &c, for their furs. The 
beaver, the most valuable on account of its fur, is 
getting somewhat scarce. The Hudson Bay Com- 
pany have therefore adopted the plan of preventing 



CANADA AS IT IS. 4 7 

their hunting Indians from catching them in traps 
as formerly, lest they should kill the young as well 
as the old, and thus destroy the race. 

The beavers are the most sagacious of the ani- 
mal creation: they clear meadows, make dams, 
and excavate their little canals ; fell trees, build 
their houses ; and all with the utmost order and 
regularity. When they fell a tree, they gnaw it 
away on one side, so that it shall fall exactly in 
the position they wish : their water-dams are made 
in the shape of a horse-shoe, and arranged as regu- 
larly as though it were done by the hand of man. 
They live in communities of from twenty to thirty, 
and should one happen to be lazy, they beat him 
unmercifully, and will not suffer him to remain 
among them. These discarded beavers are often 
met with by the hunters, and are always in a lean 
condition. They live principally on the inner part 
of the white birch, which they store up in large 
quantities in the summer for their winter food. 
These animals work early in the morning and 
in the evening. The manner of erecting their win- 
ter habitations is very curious ; — one of the large 
beavers will lie on its back, whilst several of the 
others load it with mud ; of which, by holding its 
legs ia a particular position, it contrives to hold a 
large quantity; and when fully laden, the other 



48 CANADA AS it IS* 

beavers take hold of its tail with their teeth, and 
draw it to the spot fixed on for their winter abode. 
This is several times repeated, the carrier coming 
regularly back with the rest. They build the house 
on piles at the curve of the dam, with a floor raised 
above the water to keep them dry : it is about six 
feet in diameter and quite round, with a hole at the 
bottom to enable them to make their escape in case 
of alarm. A regular roof is formed of twigs well 
cemented with mud. These animals possess amaz- 
ing strength in their tails, with which they collect 
the mud for their building, plaster the sides of the 
house, drive the piles to support the dam to a con- 
siderable depth in the ground, and use it wherever 
the force of a hammer is required ; they are very 
broad and long. 

The Indians of the Ottawa appear to have little 
or no idea of cultivation ; some few grow a little 
Indian corn, but they mostly depend on chance for 
their subsistence. In the summer they make ca- 
noes, and bring their furs down the river; these 
bark canoes of the most exact shape, that will con- 
tain twenty men besides a ton e and a half of 
loading with the greatest safety, are simply made 
and the only tool they make use of is a pocket knife, 
not even a nail being required in their formation. 



CANADA AS IT IS. 49 

They are passionately fond of spirits, and the 
worst results often occur from their intoxication ; 
for when in this state the greatest impositions are 
frequently practised on them. Their mode of 
trading away their skins is singular ; should they 
have a hundred or more skins, they will only sell 
one at a time ; and when sober, they are very 
acute, and take good care to get their value ; but 
when intoxicated, they part with them for little or 
nothing,— "frequently a good beaver skin for a small 
glass of rum : and many a designing person, well 
aware of this propensity, encourage it in order to 
defraud them, and have made much money by 
these nefarious practises. 

Some of the squaws when young, are interesting, 
good looking girls, and were they not to distort their 
features in the manner they do, by slitting the gris- 
tle of their nose, &c, they really might be termed 
handsome. The cruelties these Indians practice 
on the prisoners whom they capture in their wars, 
are enormities of the most revolting nature, viz : 
scalping, taking out their eyes, cutting out their 
tongues, and' in this state making them walk over 
the burning embers of large fires, uttering on those 
occasions the most horrid yells and groans. 

The Micmacs and Shawnees had been at war for 

a long time. It is their practice in warfare for the 
E 



50 CANADA AS IT IS. 

Indians to go about in parties of from twenty to 
thirty. On one of these occasions a band of the 
Shawnees headed by a son of their chief named 
Winneewee, attacked a camp of the Micmacs under 
their chief (Caunawana) ; the chief himself escap- 
ed, but the Shawnees took some of his tribe and 
some squaws ; amongst them the only daughter of 
Caunawana the chief of the Micmacs. She was an 
interesting young creature about seventeen, and for 
a squaw, handsome. The Shawnees had to take 
their prisoners some three or four days march to 
their camp, for the subordinate Indians are not al- 
lowed to perform the office of scalping &c, till the 
prisoners are brought before their chief, who gene- 
rally performs this horrible rite himself. In march- 
ing them to the camp of AY inneewee, his son the 
young chief became violently attached to the daugh- 
ter of Caunawana, their female captive. And 
when they arrived at his father's camp, the young 
chief most earnestly implored her rescue. Win- 
neewee became outrageous at the thoughts of his 
son forming on attachment to the daughter of his 
implacable enemy, and threatened the young chief 
with instant death if he persisted. His passion 
was however too deeply rooted to allow even the 
wrath of his father to remove it, — and he still con- 
tinued to implore his consent, so that at last he told 



CANADA AS IT IS. 51 

his son, that if he would bring him seven heads of 
the Micmacs before the setting of seven suns, he 
would give him up the daughter of Caunawana. 
The young chief was not long in prevailing on a 
band of stout young Indians to join him in his un- 
dertaking, and within the given time, he brought to 
his father the required ransom, and obtained the 
object of his wishes. 

About two years afterwards, a strong party of 
the Micmacs surprised and carried a camp of the 
Shawnees taking several prisoners together with 
the son of Winneewee, badly wounded, and the 
young squaw his wife. The Micmacs took their 
prisoners to the camp of Caunawana to undergo 
the usual cruelties and death. The young squaw 
well knew the violence of her father, and that if she 
attempted to intercede either for herself or the 
young chief her husband, that a more horrible death 
awaited them both. They therefore made up 
their minds to their fate. 

The Micmacs have a peculiar custom of marking 
their children of both sexes when young, by slitting 
the gristle of their noses. When arrived at the 
camp of Caunawana, the young squaw was the first 
brought forth to undergo the horrible ordeal. Before 
the first operation is begun of peeling the scalp off 
the head, a tight bandnge is bound round their eyes. 
E2 



52 CANADA AS IT IS. 

Caunawana, stepping forward to make the first dread- 
ful gash, stayed his knife for he saw it was a Mic- 
mac ; and on examining her more closely, he bo- 
held in the person of his intended victim, his own 
and only daughter. The savage breast was not 
unsusceptible of kindred feeling. His daughter, 
now aware of his discovery, implored in the most 
supplicating manner that he would not stay, the 
operation, unless in restoring her he also released 
her husband, the young chief. Caunawana over- 
joyed at again seeing his daughter, whom -he had 
long given up for dead, released her husband with 
all the other prisoners, which was the means of re- 
storing peace between these two warlike tribes. 

Wolves here, as well as elsewhere, are most de- 
structive animals. They roam in the forest, and when 
driven by hunger, sometimes come into the clear- 
ances and commit dreadful havoc amongst the cat- 
tle. They hunt in packs, frequently catch deer, and 
when they get one, every atom of the skin and 
flesh is devoured in a few hours. Their ravages 
amongst cattle may be avoided with care and pre- 
caution. There is a premium paid for their de- 
struction ; five dollars in the Upper and ten in the 
Lower Province, yet they arc more numerous in 
Upper Canada. This distinction of premium is 
bad policy, and well worth the attention of the 



CANADA AS IT IS. 53 

House of Assembly, for it is by no means the least 
evil that a settler has to contend with. 

The object of the premium is of course to rid 
the country of those destructive animals, and the 
wording of the act made for this purpose is " that 
if the parties take the heads and skins to a magis- 
trate and make oath, that he or they killed the 
wolf or wolves in the province, they shall, by pre- 
senting his certificate to the treasurer of the re- 
spective district, be paid the allowed premium." 

It happened a short time ago, that a settler who 
resided in the Upper Province, (where, as was before 
observed, the premium is only five dollars each,) 
trapped a she wolf, which was at the time big with 
young. A neighbor, an American, having heard of 
the circumstance, went to the settler and purchased 
the live wolf. He fed her well, and in a little time 
she brought forth a litter of eight young ones. He 
immediately got a cage made, and took the whole 
family of live wolves into the nearest part of the 
Lower Province, there killed them, and received 
the premium of ten dollars for each. 

The black bears are numerous here. In their 
native state they are a very different looking animal 
than when in confinement. In the summer, when fat, 
they have rather a noble looking appearance ; hi the 
winter Ihey are never to be met with. They take to 
E3 



54 CANADA AS IT IS. 

their dens, large holes in the rocks, pr earth, and 
remain in them till the beginning of May. They lay 
up no stores whatever for their winter supplies, but 
exist in a state of somnolence. When they re- 
turn to their dens they are fat and sleek, but when 
they first make their appearance in the spring, they 
are mere skeletons. In the summer they subsist 
on roots, wild fruits, Indian corn, and in fact every 
thing that comes in their way ; they sometimes do 
a great deal of mischief amongst the grain, not 
alone from the quantity they consume, but they 
roll about and beat down the standing grain, thus 
destroying it. They are frequently killed in commit- 
ing these depredations, but their smell is so keen 
that it requires caution to get near them. The 
general plan is to erect a stage about twelve feet 
high, so that their approach may be observed. 
They are frequently also caught in traps. 

The black is the only species of bear in Canada ; 
but towards the North Western Territory there are 
three other kinds, the white, the brown, and the yel- 
low. The white bear is one of the fiercest animals 
in existence. They never show mercy to any liv- 
ing creature, not even to their own species amongst 
the male kind, for whenever they meet, one if not 
both is sure to die, and hence their scarcity. The 
yellow bear is also very scarce; the coat of the yel- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 55 

low bear is supposed to be the finest hair in the 
world. 

Canada produces three kinds of deer, — the red, 
which is the most common, the fallow, and the 
moose deer ; the last is a most extraordinary ani- 
mal, and not frequently met with ; — it is of such an 
enormous height, that a horse of sixteen hands high 
could easily walk under its neck ; it seldom goes 
out of a walking pace, which is as fast as any other 
animals trot, and its legs are so long, that it could 
with ease step over a five barred gate, but its neck 
is so short that it cannot graze, but subsists by 
browsing, chiefly on the moose wood (whence it 
derives its name) neither can it drink in a stand- 
ing posture, but is obliged to kneel for the water. 
The bark of the moose wood is so strong that 
the Indians use it for all sorts of purposes, it is an 
excellent substitute for rope and string, and is 
sometimes used by the settlers as traces for horses. 
The red deer are very numerous, and when fat 
generally weigh about two hundred pounds ; from 
the month of August till Christmas they are good, 
and afford in the autumn excellent sport in hunting. 
When started by the dogs, they invariably fly to the 
nearest river or lake, where some of the [party are 
ready with a canoe, no that when it plunges in the 
water, they may paddle after and shoot it. It is 
E4 



56 CANADA AS IT IS. 

surprising that these deer are so numerous consid- 
ering the quantity of wolves prowling about the 
forests. 

There is an abundance of wild fruit, such as 
raspberries, strawberries and plums on the northern 
side of Upper Canada, the two first grow very 
plentifully and are excellent, the red raspbeny 
equals in size and flavour that produced in Eng- 
land, yet might it be termed the weed of this coun- 
try, the black raspberry makes an excellent pre- 
serve : there are also wild black currants which 
are very good, and gooseberries, but these are 
small and have no flavour : the currant is not a 
native of this country, but grows, when brought here 
to a large size. It is advisable for the emigrant to 
bring different kinds of fruit trees. 

The wild pigeons, from May to August, are 
generally very numerous, and are excellent eating : 
they are about the size of the blue rock pigeon, and 
the cock-bird is much the same colour. Wild 
fruit is their principal food, but some seasons when 
they are very numerous, they consume a great 
deal of grain : they arrive in immense flocks and 
are supposed to come some thousands of miles, 
crossing lakes two or three hundred miles wide : 
such is the instinct of these birds, that after 
the first flock have remained about a month 
they leave for their nurseries, where they hatch 



CANADA AS IT IS. 57 

their young, and are soon after succeeded by others 
in succession continuing thus throughout the sea- 
son, following precisely the same course, though 
at an immense distance through uncleared forests, 
and over trackless lakes. 

There are a great quantity of frogs in Canada ; 
they are the best bait for fish that can be had, 
particularly the green frog. The bull frog is an 
extraordinary little animal, on account of the great 
noise it makes, which very much resembles the 
bellowing of a bull. 

Many of the French Canadians eat this animal, 
which is found to be a wholesome and nutritious 
food, when people can banish their prejudices. 

The mosquitoes are the most annoying of all in- 
sects ; it Js a small fly, very much resembling the 
gnat which is often met with in England ; the 
sting is very sharp, and occasions a blister particu- 
larly to new comers ; they generally come here 
about the middle of May, after they have remained 
unmolested for about a month, comes their natural 
enemy the musquito hawk, an insect resembling 
the hornet in shape, they pursue the mosquito in- 
cessantly and devour it, so that after this hawk ap- 
pears, the mosquito is seldom very troublesome. 
It is common where they are very numerous, to 
see a large smudge made in the farm yards, around 
E5 



58 CANADA AS IT IS. 

which the cattle, (which are also greatly tormented 
by them) will arrange themselves in order to rid 
themselves of these annoying flies ; and it is quite 
necessary, prior to retiring to rest, to make a smoke 
in doors, in order to eject them from the house. 

It is highly gratifying to pay a visit to an industri- 
ous new settler, after he has been two or three years 
on his land, — to partake of his humble, yet whole- 
some fare, particularly should he be blessed witb 
a help-mate, of those neat and cleanly habits, which 
always impart an air of comfort even to the most 
humble dwelling. See him at his morning meal, — 
the clean white deal table, the plentiful supply of 
ham, the ample dish of potatoes, the hearth-baked 
bread, the pitcher of new milk, the maple sugar, 
with the addition of tea ; and with the exception of 
the tea, all the produce of his little new farm. 

Unfortunately this is not always the case; people 
of indolent, dirty habits, are comfortable under no 
circumstances, and in no country ; but if a man be 
only industrious, even if he have no knowledge 
of agriculture whatever, he must succeed ; and 
every necessary comfort is within his reach. 

In sailing down the river in the summer season, 
from the Chats to By-town, what numerous objects 
of interest present themselves, — to the rear are the 
beautiful falls at the Chats, its widely extended 



CANADA AS IT IS. 59 

bays studded with islands ; on one side are the 
bold heights covered with forest trees with their 
splendid foliage : on the other, and in the distance 
is seen the cragged tree topped mountain rearing 
its head above the clouds ; in front appears the 
stately flowing stream T the Ottawa, with ever and 
anon the lightly, gliding, gay canoe ; and every 
now and then a small opening discovers a neat 
little dwelling, with its curling smoke just emerg- 
ing from between the trees. 

All must acknowledge the beauty and sublimity 
of the Alps, the stupendous grandeur of Niagara, 
but the diversified and interesting scenery of the 
Ottawa must not be denied. The upper town of 
By-town contains many neat houses in the cottage 
style ; there is one handsome stone building of 
large dimensions, with numerous out offices, the 
occupier of which deseives mention. He is a 
native of Ireland, and came a poor emigrant to 
Canada some eight or ten years ago : a year or 
two before the Rideau canal was made, he pur- 
chased a lot of land of one hundred acres for a 
very small sum of money, which is now the site of 
By-town, some of the government buildings, and a 
part of the canal. This person has already real- 
ized a handsome fortune ; but by selling out parts 
of his land in buildinc lots for short terms, he will,. 



60 CANADA AS IT IS. 

in a few years, be in the receipt of a considerable 
income arising from those rents. Upper By-town 
is at a very great elevation, overlooking an im- 
mense tract of land, and is perfectly distinct from 
the lower town, the canal passing between them, 
over which is now erected a neat stone bridge. 

By-town is now quite a lively, fashionable 
place ; here are to be seen the European fashions, 
silks vicing with muslins, the poke bonnet with the 
immense leghorn. Here are quadrille parties, and 
Scotch reel parties, and many other parties where 
mirth usually presides. There are now many re- 
spectable mechanics and tradesmen established 
here i emigration has in some degree flowed to 
this part of the Province for these last few years, 
and it has the appearance of much bustle and ani- 
mation ; from the great number of men employed 
on the canal by government contractors, it re- 
quires pretty strict discipline to keep them all in 
order, — there is something like a mutiny every 
now and then breaking out amongst them ; and 
on the whole, Col. By has certainly no sinecure. 
The government pays three shillings a day to each 
man, on which they might live very well and save 
money, where provisions arc to be bought so cheap 
as they are here ; most of them have their own 
little cabins to live in, with a plot of ground tv> 



CANADA AS IT IS. 61 

each, enough to grow potatoes sufficient for their 
own consumption, which is a consideration of 
some importance to them. Such a mart has By- 
town already, that in the winter, when sleighing is 
good, the place is thronged by the country people, 
bringing their various produce to dispose of, and 
at this time of the year provisions are particularly 
cheap. Fresh pork at five or six dollars a hun- 
dred, beef at five dollars, mutton about three shil- 
ings a quarter, and poultry of all kinds very plenty 
and cheap. The living at taverns is high, con- 
sidering the cheap rate of provisions : a dollar a 
day is the usual charge. There are abundance of 
them opened, but so few are kept in any decent 
order, that a respectable person cannot reconcile 
himself to their accommodations. 

New houses are appearing in all directions about 
By-town, and the lands for some miles are gradu- 
ally taken up and settled on. It is a matter of no 
ordinary difficulty after a lot of land in the bush has 
been purchased, to find out where it is situated ; for 
tho' there are diagrams explaining the numbers and 
situation, with other particulars of the different lots, 
yet this lot might chance to be situated some eight 
or ten miles in the forest ; and did there not hap- 
pen to be settled every here and there a person 
well acquainted with the lay of the country, new 



62 CANADA AS IT IS. 

comers would never of themselves be able to find 
out their different portions. They are all survey- 
ed, and posts are put up at the corners of the dif- 
ferent lots, denoting their numbers ; but to an utter 
stranger, these landmarks are of but little use, par- 
ticularly m trackless forests. The woods, even to 
persons who have long been settled in this coun- 
try, are very treacherous, but not to the native born 
American, who seems to have a kind of instinct in 
finding his way in the untrodden bush. 

The success generally attending American set- 
tlers is in a great measure to be attributed to the 
manner in which they are brought up by their pa- 
rents, and their customs in this respect as regards 
both sexes, are not altogether unworthy our imita- 
tion: habits of practical industry are early instilled 
in the minds of the children, paying at the Same 
time a proper attention io an useful education ; for 
it is evident that the schoolmaster has been, and is 
now abroad in the United States : their manners, 
it is true, are not so polished, — there is not that 
outward show of civility that is recognized in most 
parts of Europe ; they have certainly their peculiar- 
ities, strange expressions, quaint remarks, but so 
have inost other countries. In forming a criterion 
for the education of children, a due regard should 
be had to the habits of the country in which they 



CANADA AS IT IS. 63 

are brought up ; in Europe such is the refined 
state of society, and the superabundance of persons 
in the lower ranks of life, that the industry of the 
higher or even the middle classes are scarcely ever 
called into action ; these ideas are often import- 
ed here, and their influence frequently incapaci- 
tates individuals, when left to provide for themselves, 
from using the proper means to obtain the com- 
forts, or even the necessaries of life. 

There is a great difficulty in procuring servants 
here, independently of the expense of keeping them; 
in fact, labour, be it of either sex, is the riches of 
this country, and persons coming out from Europe 
if they expect to succeed, must reconcile themselvs 
to it. The only servants a family man should hire, 
are men servants of all work, instead of women 
servants of all work. Some of the Canadians are 
extremely clever in turning their hands to almost 
any thing. 

There is a system adopted in various parts of 
Canada, particularly in the neighbourhood of Mont- 
real and other large towns, of letting farms out upon 
shares ; gentlemen of opulence in the towns and 
other places very often let out their farms upon 
those terms, and it is a very good plan for a new 
comer to embrace these opportunities if he can ; 
ii gives him an experience in the custom of the 
country, and particularly if he have no property 



64 CANADA AS IT IS. 

of his own, offers him the means of acquiring a lit- 
tle to commence with on his own account : the 
owner of the farm provides stock, farming utensils 
and seed to crop his land for the first year, there 
are no wages paid of course, the tenant does either 
by himself or with assistance, all the labor of the 
farm, in return for which he gets his half of the 
crop, half of the stock bred on the farm, (the ori- 
ginal stock being retained by the owner,) this sys- 
tem is frequently of mutual benefit ; farms are let 
in this manner from one to three years and so on. 
It is astonishing with what rapidity a man's stock 
might, with care and attention, accumulate in the 
course of a few years : as an instance, a man 
commenced with the following supply of stock ; 
two ewes and a ram, one cow, one mare, and one 
sow, he neither killed or sold any of his sheep, and 
at the expiration of five years he had fifty three 
sheep ; he had sold two horses and had three left, 
eight head of horn cattle, he had killed a good many 
pigs and had plenty remaining. 

A farmer's life in Canada, admitting that he has 
his share of work, is not the most irksome in the 
world, and it leaves him plenty of time for recrea- 
tion. His most busy time commences usually 
about the twenty-fifth of April, when the snow and 
ice are quite gone. He first begins to plough his 



CANADA AS IT IS. 65 

land, and then to sow oats, barley, peas, and spring 
wheat if he should have occasion. Indian corn is 
the next crop, and this should be in by the fifteenth 
of May ; lastly, potatoes, which, after all, are the 
most important. They are usually planted in hil- 
locks, but often with great success in drills : in the 
neighbourhood of Montreal and other places, they 
are done with less expense in drills than hillocks ; 
they are put into the land quicker, in the first place, 
and the plough will save hand-hoeing; they are 
also much more expeditiously got out of the ground 
with the plough. After the farmer has put in all 
his crop, he should then look well to his fences ; 
for it is of no use to crop the land unless it is well 
fenced also, it being the custom in most parts of 
the province to lei the horned cattle range in the 
woods all the summer. This may not be a good 
plan, still it is one of expediency, for many a new 
settler, who has a cow, has probably no pasture for 
her for the first year or two. The farmer's crop 
being all in the land, and his fences well secured, 
he may now rest a while from his labours ; shoot 
pigeons, which are generally very plenty at this 
season of the year, fish, visit his friends, or amuse 
himself as best suits his inclination, till about the 
fifteenth or twentieth of July, then his hay is fit to 
cut. Hay should be mowed just as the flower is 



66 CANADA AS IT IS. 

leaving it ; while the sap is yet full, it is the most 
profitable both for home consumption and for sale. 
It should, if possible, be cut one day, and housed 
or stacked the next ; for if no rain occur, it will 
never heat. The idea of the sap causing it to 
heat, is all a chimera. It is a mistaken notion to 
dry hay too much in the sun ; it is generally made 
here with little expense. Hay season over, in Au- 
gust his wheat and other grain begin to ripen, to 
get in which, will take him till September. The 
next grain that he has to look to, is his Indian corn, 
but that takes only a short time ; the husks are 
merely torn off, and the stalks left standing, unless 
they are cut for fodder, for which they answer very 
well. In September the farmer ought to have his 
plough in his land, and before the latter end of this 
month, if possible, get in his fall wheat. Wheat 
sown iii October generally does very well, and e ven 
in November ; in fact, it is sometimes sown when 
the frost and snow have clotted the earth, so as to 
be hardly broken with the harrow, and has yet been 
a good crop ; but this is neither so good nor safe a 
mode as preparing the ground in September. His 
harvest being done, and his winter crop sown, the 
farmer is not now greatly pressed for time ; still, 
he may generally find something to do to keep him 
out of idleness. In 'October his -1 ! b< 



CANADA AS IT IS. 67 

fit to take out of the ground, when they should be 
either well secured in his cellar, root-house, or in 
pits in the field. A root-house is a very necessary 
place to keep vegetables in for winter consumption. 
It is a long room or hole dug pretty deep in the 
earth, a double tier of logs round the sides, the va- 
cuity being well filled with earth, and also the roof 
well covered with a double layer of logs and earth, 
so as not to admit the least air or light. This pre- 
caution is necessary to keep out the frost, which is 
most penetrating. The extreme severity of the 
frost in Canada in the winter is almost incredible, 
for it frequently freezes the nose and ears. The 
usual method, when one person meets another in 
this predicament, is to take up some snow and rub 
the affeted part till is restored the circulation of the 
blood, for the frozen persons themselves feel no 
pain whatever. I have sat by the fire-side when, 
while the sap has -been oozing out at the ends of 
the wood then burning in the fire, it has been in- 
stantly frozen hard. In taking tea, the cups, and 
saucers, tea-pot and all, frequently freeze to the 
table. However, with due precaution, potatoes 
and other roots and vegetables might be well se- 
cured through the winter. If the farmer have any 
new land to clear, October is a good time to begin 
to under- brush and chop ; he can also spare a day 
F 



68 CANADA AS IT IS. 

now and then for hunting, if his inclination be that L 
way bent. In November he ought to look out for 
his winter's stock of fire- wood, which is a matter j 
of some importance in Canada. It is by far the ; 
most desirable plan every year to lay up a year's , 
stock of fire-wood before-hand, for green wood ta- , 
ken to burn, moulders away, and does not give that . 
heat which is derived from wood that has been laid . 
by for some time ; the ashes that a family will , 
make through the season, is of some consequence; , 
a shed should be erected, not too near the dwelling, 
in case of fire, but at a convenient distance, to keep 5 
the ashes thoroughly dry, and many dollars would . 
accumulate in the course of a year. In Novem- 
ber, the snow usually commences, then the farmer . 
has to look out for good winter quarters for his 
cattle, and also to see that his own dwelling is well 
tiled in, get all his vegetables out of the ground, 
and have a plenty of grain ground, for many of the 
mills are stopped during the winter months, from 
the severity of the frost. November is generally 
the slaughtering month ; some sheep are killed, 
and are hung up to freeze for the winter supply, 
and pigs, beef, &c. December is frequently an 
open month, till Christmas, and the farmer might 
keep on with his under-brushing and chopping till 
after he has eaten his Christmas dinner. The 



CANADA AS IT IS. 69 

snow getting sufficiently deep, and the rivers freez- 
ing hard, sleighing generally begins. Now is the 
time to get the sleighs and harness in proper order, 
or this is the season for the settler who happens to 
have no good summer's road to his residence, to 
take what produce he may have to spare to market. 

The houses at this season of the year are kept 
very warm and comfortable, by means of stoves, 
particularly the large double ones. Those stoves 
are fixed so that one will warm two rooms, and the 
pipes aie so arranged as to give considerable heat 
to the upper parts of the houses. In the lower 
province particularly, the houses in the winter are 
kept so hot, as to be almost suffocating, and fre- 
quently accidents occur from persons not being 
aware of the heat of their stoves. 

In January the ice begins to be of a proper 
thickness to bear a load with safety. The method 
adopted here, in order to ascertain if it be of a pro- 
per thickness to bear a horse with sleigh and load, 
is to take a good sharp axe and to strike it into the 
ice with all your might at one single blow, and if 
you penetrate to the water, it is considered not safe 
enough to travel on with a load, but if no water 
gushes out, it might then be trusted. It is extreme- 
ly pleasant to travel on the ice, the horses being 
well corked, will trot along at great speed, and with 
F2 



70 CANADA AS IT IS. 

perfect safety ; and where it happens to be a road 
well frequented, the tinkling of the bells, the speed 
of the horses, and the variety of the vehicles, give 
it an air of great gaiety. It is delightful to travel 
on the ice on a fine moon-light night ; for although 
it freezes harder at night than in the day, yet from 
there being generally little or no wind, the cold is 
not nearly so much felt; the greatest danger is being 
caught in a snow-storm. "It is a custom in the win- 
ter to make, or rather plant roads on the ice ; it is 
done when the ice first takes, by collecting a quan- 
tity of green brush, the branches of the fir and ce- 
dar trees, making holes in the ice, and planting this 
brush in groves across the ice to any given place; 
it thus serves for a road all the winter. At differ- 
ent places, both on the St. Lawrence and on the 
Ottawa, you will see these roads continuing for 
miles, and are of the greatest utility. With the ex- 
ception of travelling about, the farmer has little to 
do now, besides feeding his stock. Nothing is to 
be seen but the tops of the fences ; and the build- 
ings, and sometimes fences and all, are totally buri- 
ed in the snow. Winter has now assumed her 
wonted stillness — all in the forest is silent as the 
tomb — not a bird — not a sound — not a creature, 
is now to be seen or heard — not even a leaf to rus- 
tle on the trees — it is now the midnight of nature's 
slumbers. 



CANADA AS IT IS. 71 

The farmers' occupation in February, will be 
found much the same as in the preceding month, 
attending his cattle, chopping fire-wood, and taking 
to market. Here it would be well to observe upon 
the prudence of the Farmers' keeping altogether 
out of debt with the merchants or innkeepers. It 
is too often the case with the young farmer to ob- 
tain goods upon the faith of his forth-coming crop. 
This is a system of thraldom that frequently keeps 
him in debt for years, for while he gets his sup- 
plies upon credit, there is not the same provi- 
dential management over his out goings. But 
when a man takes no credit, but pays for his goods 
as he gets them, he will feel the necessity of keep- 
ing within due bounds, besides the consideration 
that at the end of seven years he will be a consid- 
erable gainer. For where he buys for the ready 
cash, he will purchase considerably cheaper. 

March is reckoned the last month of sleighing, 
though the ice is generally good through the whole 
of this month ; towards the latter end of March 
some remote symtoms of spring begin to develope 
themselves. 

The severity of the winter now begins to relax a 

little. Passing through the Forests you will now 

and then hear a tree crack from the effects of the 

thaw, as if it were the report of a gun ; this is the 

F3 



72 CANADA AS IT IS. 

time to begin making sugar from the maple tree, 
when the sap first begins to rise. The ice on the 
river now gives way, and the confined air finding 
vent, thro' the crevices of the thawing ice, explodes 
and produces a rumbling noise much resembling 
distant thunder. The cattle yet require their con- 
stant supply of fodder, for there is no green food 
for some little time yet, and when the snow leaves 
the grass it has at first a dead rusty hue, but when 
once vegetation begins to spring, the rapidity of 
change is beyond conception. Towards the mid- 
dle of April the change in the season becomes visi- 
ble, and the approach of spring is hailed with feel- 
ings of pleasure and delight. The plough and the 
harrow now begin to be thought of, and the farmer 
must make up his mind to labour and assiduity. 

The manufacture of the maple sugar is very 
similar to the process of making potash, the one 
being by evaporation of the water from the ley, 
— the other by the evaporation of the liquid 
from the essence of the maple sap. Proportiona- 
ble to the quantity of sugar intended to be made, a 
number of small troughs are prepared, eachof which 
will collect sufficient sap in the season to make one 
pound of sugar. Those troughs are made simply 
by splitting a small tree and cutting it up into con- 
venient lengths : — thus supposing it is intended to 



CANADA AS IT IS. 73 

make 200 pounds, of course so many troughs 
are provided ; having collected the sap, which 
is done by placing a trough under each maple tree 
in which a notch is cut, out of which the sap oozes ; 
a small flat stick is first placed to convey the sap 
into the trough, and every morning that it continues 
running it is collected and reserved in a large cask. 
Haviug collected the sap, boiling commences, and 
continues until it is reduced to the consistency of 
sugar. 

There are two ways from By-town to Kingston ; 
the one by the line of the Rideau canal ; the other, 
which is now called the old road, by way of Rich- 
mond and Perth, — and through a line of tolerably 
well settled townships. Very soon after leaving 
By-town, -on the Richmond road, evident charac- 
teristics of the establishment of a country recently 
called into existence by the hand of industry and 
perseverance, begin to make their appearance : 
the sturdy forest bends beneath the stroke of the 
vigorous axe, — the empire of solitude and silence 
yields up their dominion to life and animation, — 
and the hum of industry is heard. 

Such, doubtless, was the state of our parent 

country, in the remote ages of the world ; but to 

remain in the torpid state of nature could never be 

the intention of our Creator. He gives to his 

F4 



74 CANADA AS IT IS. 

creatures a land for their inheritance, — but to man 
lie says, * by the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat 
bread ;" and we are not to confine the interpreta- 
tion of this sentence to the literal tilling of the soil* 
but in its more general and extensive application. 
The means are given to man whereby he may con- 
vert the wilderness into a pleasant country, — 
whereby he may call into existence the hidden 
treasures of the earth, — render her the means of 
support to the present generation, — the reciprocal 
advantage to distant parts of the world. 

Man Was not sent into the world to be a useless 
being, — to eat the fruits of the earth with the view 
only to gratify his sensual appetite, but to be of ser- 
vice to his fellow-creatures, — to render his assist- 
ance to the general welfare of society, — to consi- 
der the m ants of the community as the wants of 
himself, — to hold out by precept and example the 
practical good of enlarged benevolence. 

Man neglecting to cherish and practice these 
ideas, too often relapses into a state of apathy and 
indifference, — his mind becomes corroded wh% 
selfish and contracted feelings, — he lives but to* 
himself, — the mere being of existence. 

Richmond, distant from By-town about twenty 
miles, is rather a swampy, low country : the road 
to it is distinguished for having many of those rib- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 75 

bed roads, called (not inaptly) corduroy bridges. 
Those bridges are sometimes a mile or two 
long. They are generally composed of logs of 
cedar laid parallel at the sides with the road, and 
other logs laid transversely, and resting their ends 
on the side logs. A few years ago this road, par- 
ticularly near Richmond, was in such a state as to 
be scarcely passable ; but within these three years 
it is very much improved, and still continues to be 
so ; and for the traveller there is excellent accom- 
modation. 

The lands in the neighbourhood of Richmond, 
are some of the richest in the Province ; but the 
situation being rather low and swampy, it is not 
considered so healthy as some other parts. The 
late Duke of Richmond unfortuuately lost his life 
within a few miles of this place, from the bite of a 
fox. He intended Richmond to have been a town 
of considerable importance ; here are now to be 
seen . the outlines of extensive streets, which 
were all regularly laid ; numerous skeletons of 
large buildings are still standing ; here was to 
have been a Cheapside, there a Ludgate Hill. 
Fleet-street at another place, and the Old Bailey 
crossing at right angles, with a Snow Hill in the 
centre,— though now snow hills are not wanting at 
this place in the winter. 
F5 



76 CANADA AS IT IS. 

Richmond is at the present time a place of con- 
siderable business, and the main thoroughfare 
through the heart of this part of Upper Canada. It 
will also be benefited materially by the accom- 
plishment of the Rideau canal, — it will open a 
navigation to the Ottawa by means of the con- 
tinuation of the York river, (upon which Rich- 
mond is situated) with the Rideau : thus the good 
effects of this great public work are felt more or 
less in all the surrounding country. 

In going from Richmond to Perth, the traveller 
will pass through some rather thickly settled town- 
ships. The Rideau settlement, between Rich- 
mond and Perth, is one of the largest and best set- 
tlements within many miles; it owes its rise prin- 
cipally to the lumber trade on the Ottawa river. 
Before there were any settlements on or in the 
neighbourhood of the Ottawa, the supplies of fod- 
der — hay, oats, &c, (required for getting out lum- 
ber) used to be drawn nearly all from the Rideau 
settlement, which at that time was their principal 
market, 

The next township is Beckwith, which contains 
about two thousand inhabitants ; among whom are 
many respectable Scotch families. Instances are 
not wanting in the township of persons who came 
out to Canada, not many years ago, with very 



CANADA AS IT IS. 77 

scanty means, if any at all — who arc now very 
comfortably situated, having good large farms, 
plenty of gows, sheep, horses, pigs, &c. &c, and 
living in a state of great respectability. And it 
may be observed, that wherever our northern breth- 
ren form settlements, there are to be seen their 
Usual characteristics of industry, perseverance, and 
Orderly conduct ; they seldom fail in giving their 
children useful educations, which are the surest 
means of making them good members of society. 
The only taxes known here at present, are the 
assess on property of one penny in the pound, 
which goes towards repairing the roads, and a half 
penny more to pay the sitting members of the 
House of Assembly. A man consequently having 
a farm of about fifty acres of cleared land, with 
stock, dwelling house, &c, pays on an average 
about a dollar and a half per year. On wild lands 
taken up, the assess is very trifling ; but those who 
take up lands and neglect to improve them are 
liable to pay the assess on them. An act was^ 
passed in the House of Assembly in the Upper 
Province, that where parties neglected to pay the 
assessment on wild or any other lands, for eight 
years in succession, the sheriff of each district 
should be authorized to sell, annually, all such 
lands in arrear, redeemable by the original owners 



78 CANADA AS IT IS. 

at any time within one year alter the sale of such 
lands, by paying the purchaser the purchase money, 
for any improvement he might have made during 
the time of his possession, and twenty per cent, 
interest for his capital laid out. This act came 
into operation about a year ago, when the first 
sheriff's sale for arrears of assess took place ; and 
in some remote parts these lands have been sold 
for a mere trifle — as little as three pence per acre. 
Thus two hundred acres of probably excellent 
land, (although in the wilderness,) for two pounds 
ten shillings currency. 

The next township to Beckwith is Elmsley, 
which is also in a flourishing conditio;-), containing 
about 1500 inhabitants, congregated from all parts 
of the British Kingdom. This district is remark- 
able for the number of deer seen from the road, 
frequently in herds of twelve or sixteen, which is 
unusual, as they seldom herd more than two or 
three together. In some particular spots there 
are what are termed deer licks : these are salt 
springs, of which these animals are so fond, that 
they flock to them from all parts of the forests, and 
are there shot in great numbers from a scaffold 
erected near the springs. 

Perth is a well-built place ; the houses are 
pretty regularly laid out, many of them large and 



CANADA AS IT IS. 79 

handsome ; the streets are also laid out uniformly. 
The court-houses and church are two spacious 
brick buildings ; they stand on a hill of considera- 
ble elevation. Here are mills, stores, and plenty 
of good mechanics to supply the wants of the com- 
munity. 

Perth being the district town, commands great 
attention from all parts of the district of Bathurst, 
— in fact, it is quite the by-word, within a distance 
of fifty miles, if a person do not settle an affair or 
an account, " I will send you to Perth." There 
are many professional gentlemen, retired officers, 
&c, settled in and about the town ; the society is 
respectable, and is remarkable for its sociability 
and gaiety. The taverns are superior to what 
might be expected from a comparatively small in- 
land town. 

Perth seems destined to become of considerable 
importance ; its situation is immediately in the 
heart of a flourishing, well-settled part of the coun- 
try, and it holds direct communication with two 
good inland rivers — the Mississippi and the Ri- 
deau ; though the latter will ere long be converted 
into a source of navigation far superior to any thing 
contemplated when Perth was first settled. There 
is not an inland town more likely to derive great- 
er advantage from the navigation of the Rideau 



80 CANADA AS IT IS. 

canal, than Perth — with its gradual accession of 
settlers, the rapid opening of the country in its 
immediate neighborhood, and hence the improve- 
ment of the roads and means of communication. 
Independent of these considerations, so long as 
the judicial business of the district is transacted 
here, it must, in a great measure, be a place of 
pre-eminence. Such has been the increased set- 
tlement of the Bathurst district within the hist ten 
years, that cases of some importance and magni- 
tude are frequently brought before the judicial 
authorities at the Perth assizes. The young 
country is governed by a code of laws granted by 
its parent state, the fundamental principles of 
which breathe more of the true spirit of liberty to 
the subject, than any government on earth. But 
the greatest of all blessings to a British subject, 
is that safeguard of inestimable value to (he pro- 
tection of his person and property, and ever to be 
held one of her most sacred rights — namely, trial 
D y J ur y* This is a right guarantied to every 
British subject, — a right that he watches over with 
as jealous an eye as the possession of his paternal 
estate. In fact, it is one of the principal compacts 
that binds king and people : it does unfortunately 
happen, that in some particular situations, persons 
are called on to exercise the all-important duty of 



CANADA AS IT IS. 81 

jurors, who from former habits of life, or want of 
education, are rendered incapable of forming with- 
in their own minds correct ideas of the merits of 
various cases submitted to their consideration. Is 
it not doubtful whether there are not a class of 
men, who from the above causes are too often led 
astray by the sophistry of counsel on one side, and 
from an undue bias in their own minds on the 
other. The causes are not to be wondered at, if 
we consider for a moment the sphere of life, in 
which some persons who are now freeholders of 
the soil of Upper Canada have been brought up,— ~ 
and their inabilities to discharge those functions ; 
they them solves feel as acutely as any party ; they 
have been reared by parents who are generally in 
too poor a condition of life to give them the least 
education, and whose utmost stretch is to be ena- 
bled to supply their families with food and clothing; 
their children are literally brought up in ignorance 
and darkness ; — and is it, then, suprising that this 
class of persons, (here metamorphosed into the 
freeholders of the soil,) should be incapable of 
performing duties requiring the aid of education, 
and the influence cf admirable examples. There 
are, then, in this province some cases where per- 
sons are called on to exercise the important diity 
of watching over the lives and liberties of their 



82 CANADA AS ITJ» IS. 

fellow subjects, who, from their want of education, 
are wholly incapable of duly discharging those du- 
ties ; however, it may be hoped, from the general 
encouragement given to education to the rising ge- 
neration in this province, that there will soon be no 
room for complaints on this score. 

A case was tried at Perth, not many years ago, 
of an assault that occurred somewhere in the dis- 
trict of Bathurst, committed on a person to whom 
the offender was under considerable obligations. 
The person on whom the assault was committed, 
was a man of opulence, the other a poor man. It 
was an outrageous and most unwarrantable offence; 
but the stumbling-block in this case was — the 
plaintiff was rich, and the defendant poor ; and 
though justice truly can never see, yet it is much 
to be feared, that she sometimes endeavours to 
draw aside the bandage. In this case, twelve free- 
holders were summoned and sworn on the jury ; 
the case being closed, and left by the highest au- 
thority in the hands of the jury for their verdict, 
there was an evident difference of opinion amongst 
them. Foreman — " Brother juryman, I think we 
we can soon come to a conclusion in this case — 
it appears to be clearly proved, that * * * very 
grossly assaulted * * *." Another juryman — " I 
perfectly agree with you, Mr. Foreman ; it appears 



CANADA AS IT IS. 83 

to me to be clearly made out ;" but not another of 
these twelve men could or would come to the same 
conclusion. A juryman — " By J s, what busi- 
ness have we to bother our brains about all that 
them there gentlemen has been talking about ihese 
two hours ; all their larned sayings is no business 
of ours, and so it is'nt ; sure, mus'nt we protect 
this poor man against the rich one 1 Suppose he 
did give the spalpeen a small taste of the shillalah, 
sure it will larn him how to behave in future." 
Foreman — " But, brother juryman, we are on our 
oaths, and it is our sacred duty to do justice." 
Juryman — '* No more of your insinuations ; if we 
was to send this poor man to prison, I should ne- 
ver forgive myself, and so I should'nt ; and I say 
we have nothing to say against him." All the rest 
sturdily concurring in this opinion, the verdict was 
given in favor of the aggressor — I believe very much 
to the surprise of most present — for certainly in 
this instance, this invaluable bulwark of our liber- 
ties was most shamefully abused. 

Perth, as centrally situated, ought to be consi- 
dered as the district town for the several townships 
within its immediate range, such as Drummond, 
Beckwith, and many more ; but it is extremely in 
convenient and expensive to the inhabitants on and 
near the Ottawa, a distance of more than fifty 



S4 CANADA AS IT IS. 

miles, that they should have to travel thus far at all 
times of the year, to transact any petty law pro- 
ceeding that calls for their personal attendance. 
By-Town ought certainly be made a separate dis- 
trict town, for that part bordering on and near the 
Ottawa. It is much to be desired that the pre- 
sent sitting member should use his influence in en- 
deavouring to procure such a regulation ; but in 
addition to the influence of the present member, 
the county of Carleton having by its now increased 
ratio of population, come up to the standard which 
gives a county the right of sending two members 
to the House of Assembly, by the next session, 
return two representatives to the Legislature of the 
Upper Province. The time of election is fixed 
for the early part of next winter. There are al- 
ready two gentlemen come forward as candidates 
for the honor. The one is a son of Colonel Burke, 
a gentleman well known in the country, and who 
was very active in the first settlement of this part 
of the province ; the other is Mr. Pinkey, a gen- 
tleman of independent property, now residing at 
March; it is therefore to be hoped, that with this 
accession of representative influence, the wants of 
every part of the county will not be forgotten. 
Perth is a town that seems to encourage within it- 
self the means of its own improvement. It appears 






CANADA AS IT IS. 85 

to contain a good share of public spirit, without 
which, every place, however advantageous in situa- 
tion, soon sinks into insignificance. It supports a 
well circulated paper, called the " Independent 
Examiner and Bathurst District Advertiser." 

Leaving Perth, you again plunge into the wilder- 
ness, but the axe is now so busy in this part of the 
world, that a visible change is constantly taking 
place. You see many little new shanties spring- 
ing up in every direction, heaps of logs burning in 
one place, gangs of men and oxen logging in an- 
other, choppers busy in pursuing their laborious 
work, road makers engaged in rendering the mud- 
dy swamp passable, and probably here and there 
the newly arrived settler, together with his world's 
all, with a large storage of broken and half-broken 
furniture, at first lost in amazement at the extraor- 
dinary change, from his former scenes in life. 
These are some of the characteristics of the first 
settlement of a country, but as soon as the settler 
gets on his land, has his shantee erected, and made 
a little comfortable, a bit of land chopped, cleared, 
and under crop, his family all around him, and his 
wife reconciled, he soon gets familiar amongst his 
new neighbors, and with the roads in his immediate 
neighbourhood. He now begins himself to be 
thoroughly reconciled, and soon forgets most of 
G 



86 CANADA AS IT IS* 

the little troubles and inconveniencies he has had 
to contend with. 

After leaving Perth about ten or fifteen miles, 
the country begins to be remarkably well settled. 
There are some very large and good settlements, 
and the country gradually improves at the nearer 
approach towards Kingston, which is easily ac- 
counted for. The St. Lawrence side of the Up- 
per Province has been partially settled for these 
forty or fifty years, and the tide of emigration has 
principally flown to this part of Upper Canada ; for 
until these four or five years, the Ottawa was 
scarcely known, but to a few persons who dealt in 
furs, and to the officers of the Hudson's Bay Com- 
pany. It is only within these twelve years that any 
settlement whatever was made on the Upper Cana- 
da side bordering on the Ottawa ; these are the 
townships of Nepean, Goulborn, Hantty, March, 
Parbolton, Fitzroy, and others ; the grand source 
of improvement has taken place within these 
five years in the cutting of the Rideau Canal, 
but on the other side, about Kingston, are now what 
is termed the Old Settlements of the country. 
There is yet a vast tract of land which appears to 
have been unnoticed by those who have had the 
management in first surveying and regulating the 
gradual settlement of the Upper. Province. It 



CANADA. AS IT IS. 87 

must strike any person who has ever been in the 
interior of the country, say fifty miles above the 
Chats, and taking a westerly direction, that it would 
have been highly desirable to have opened this part 
of the Upper Province, considering that the popu- 
lation has increased so rapidly. Here are immense 
tracts of fertile lands, some of them of the best 
quality laying dormant. It will be argued that the 
Canada Company are now, and have been for some 
time past, opening and forming new settlements in 
the Huron tract; granted they are — but are they 
not beginning where they ought to leave off? the 
Huron tract i3 an insulated part of the Upper Pro- 
vince — its very extremity. 

In settling a new country, those parts should be 
first opened where the means of communication 
are most convenient, and also the gradual opening 
of the country should be had in view, keeping the 
line of settlements as near together as the nature 
of the country will admit. 

If the part of the province alluded to were sur- 
veyed and opened by commencing a good road, 
having its extremity on one end on the shores of 
Lake Ontario, and the other on the Ottawa river, 
it would tend rapidly to the opening and settling 
the very heart of the Province of Upper Canada ; 
here would be a communication between two navi- 
G2 



86 CANADA AS IT IS. 

gable waters of the first magnitude. The inter- 
ests of the Canada Company are most intimately 
connected with the welfare and prosperity of the 
Province, and hence the necessity of their pursuing 
bold and straight forward measures in its settlement. 
It is useless to form a few small locations here and 
there in the remote districts, or to make partial 
roads ; they should open a large tract of country at 
once, and that in the most desirable and central 
part of the Province. Wherever there are good 
roads, there will the settlers flock ; but to offer 
lands for sale where there can be no means of com- 
munication, is to accomplish a very small portion 
of the good which is at their command. It may be 
asked, is not the country opened now from one ex- 
tent to the other, by means of the Rideau Canal ? 
But this is by no means the heart of Upper Cana- 
da ; neither ought any public measure to stay the 
operations of the Canada Company in their systems 
of improvement. This immense work has been 
effected at the public expense, and the Canada 
Company are reaping^the chief advantages by en- 
hancing the value and expediting the sale of their 
lands in its immediate neighbourhood. Notwith- 
standing the large accession of settlers this season, 
and those to be expected in future, yet the Pro- 
vince will not be settled as it ought, unless more 



CANADA AS IT IS. 89 

liberal plans are adopted ; the company themselves 
would reap tenfold advantages ; for where they 
now dispose of one thousand acres of land, they 
might sell ten thousand. They are well aware 
that in a neighbouring country, lands are at all times 
to be had cheap, and there the means of communi- 
cation are not neglected. Yonge street and other 
places might be instanced, but Yonge street in par- 
ticular, and all the road to Penetanguishem. Some 
of the best settlements in the Province are on this 
road, and in its vicinity. The reason is obvious : 
it is not because the lands are the best; for a con- 
siderable distance they are very poor and sandy ; 
but even here they are well settled. Persons 
would rather, and it is better for them to locate on 
ordinary lands, where there are good roads and 
means of communication, than on the very best 
soils, where those conveniencies are not to be 
found. In remote and isolated situations, land is 
scarcely worth accepting. 

The Canada Company is composed of a body 
of men (the shareholders in London and else- 
where,) who are utterly incapable of forming a just 
opinion of the nature and local wants of this coun- 
try. Their capital is invested, and all they look to 
is a return of interest, without duly considering the 
nature of the undertaking in which their capital is 
G3 



90 CANADA AS IT IS. 

engaged, or the means most proper to be adopted 
for the furtherance of its prosperity. They know 
that land is land any where, and they think that it 
is only to offer it for sale to get purchasers. Whe- 
ther the policy is a good one or not, of ever hav- 
ing delegated to any body of men the control over 
such a vast tract of territory, where the welfare and 
interests of so large a body of his Majesty's sub- 
jects are so intimately connected, time best will tell. 
On the approach to Kingston, the country is 
much settled by natives from Ireland, and here the 
character of the Irishman may be seen to advan- 
tage ; he is generally hardy, patient, industrious, 
and not intimidated at trifles, and gets over his first 
difficulties very well ; he is likewise a quiet peace- 
able neighbour and a good subject, when his pas- 
sions are not inflamed with liquor, or his feelings 
worked upon by the designing, and in this distant 
land, how much is it to be lamented, that the causes 
which produce most of the feuds and heart- 
burnings in their own country should be kept up 
and cherished here. If there be the shadow of a 
pretence for these most invidious party feelings at 
home, surely here they are altogether inexcusable 
and criminal. Whether it be on the one side or 
on the other, whether these fends and party ani- 
mosities have been cherished by the Irish Protest- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 91 

ant or by the Irish Catholic, let them be banished 
altogether from this hitherto unpolluted soil. 

The country around Kingston is distinguished 
by an evident superiority of the state of agricul- 
ture, here they are large growers of that staple 
commodity of consumption and commerce, wheat, 
a grain that as long as England continues her 
present policy towards this Country cannot be 
too much encouraged, not only for exportation 
home will it be wanted ; but also for the supply 
of the northern river, for there they are only just 
now emerging from the wilderness; if they can 
raise an acre or two each kind of grain, it is as 
much as they can do for the first few years. 
Wheat is certainly the best grain grown in Upper 
Canada, for while both barley and oats somewhat 
degenerate, wheat at lest equals if not rather excels 
the English growth. 

Kingston is now fast recovering from the severe 
check given to her commercial prosperity a few 
years ago: she is now re-establishing herself upon 
a firm basis, and from her central situation cannot, 
as long as the Province continues to flourish, fail 
to be a town of considerable importance. The 
Rideau canal has been of the utmost consequence 
to the town ; and she is likely to derive as much 
or more advantage from its navigation than any 
G4 



92 CANADA AS IT IS. 

other place in the Province ; — it will be the princi- 
pal depot at the head waters of the canal, — taking 
in and storing all the produce that will pass through 
— coming down from York, Niagara, and all places 
above, and through the Welland canal. There can 
be no question but Kingston will ultimately be one 
of the first towns in Upper Canada. It now ex- 
ceeds any other in population, — it commands a 
delightful view of Lake Ontario, — the steam-boats 
passing and repassing between Prescot and Nia- 
gara, all making the port of Kingston in their way, 
renders it in the summer a place of very consider- 
able importance and activity. The troops more 
or less permanently stationed here, likewise con- 
tribute to its gaiety. 

The site of Kingston is most judiciously 
chosen ; it is built on the curve of the Bay. On 
the opposite side stands the Garrison, commanding 
the entrance to the town ; it altogether presents a 
formidable front, and is a plan that would put to 
the test the strength of any enemy. The streets 
which are numerous are regularly laid out, butting 
on the Bay, and generally uniform and well built. 

Kingston and the surrounding country, like 
every other part of the Province, are now beginning 
to feel the beneficial effects of the judicious system 
of policy under which the Canadas have for the last 



CANADA AS IT IS. 93 

few years flourished. Prior to this period the agri- 
culture, and consequently the commerce of the 
country were in a drooping state, — the farmer 
received no price for his produce to stimulate him 
to exertion, — he could ill afford to purchase any 
thing beyond the bare necessaries of life, and 
hardly those ; the storekeeper's stock hung heavy 
on his hands ; hence the want of punctuality in 
fulfilling his engagements with the merchant, and 
the general want of c confidence, through the whole 
commercial body. No place felt the effects from 
those causes more severely than Kingston. It 
might be said, why should this country look to 
England for support and protection to her agricul- 
ture and commerce? for the very strongest 

grounds. She is a body politic as well as a colo- 
ny, — a part and parcel of the British Empire. She 
can pass no laws of herself, with regard to her 
foreign policy ; but as a colony, is of course under 
the guidance and direction of laws emanating from 
her parent state. 

Is Canada, when kept in this state of cruel de- 
pression, likely to be productive of those real and 
solid advantages to her parent state which her now 
prosperous condition would warrant us in antici- 
pating. A pampering and unsettled policy really 
G5 



94 CANADA AS IT IS. 

op&fates in a cruel manner towards a young and 
rising country ; — for a few years she fancies her- 
self in established prosperity, — the man of laudable 
ambition and enterprize embarks his capital in un- 
dertakings of magnitude, — the agriculturist goes 
on with spirit and energy in improving and culti- 
vating the soil, — the commercial character specu- 
lates upon what he reasonably considers a firm 
basis, — the united prospects of every class flourish 
for perhaps three or four years, when a new regu- 
lation is issued that gives an immediate check to 
industry, ruins commerce, and locks up the very 
channels of enterprize to every class of persons. 

Canada wants a regular settled system of policy, 
that she may calculate with some degree of cer- 
tainty upon the returns she is likely to get for her 
various surplus produce. Without this she must 
ever remain in that feverish uncertain state too 
often observable in the general commerce of this 
country. 

Kingston has to boast of some establishments in 
its neighbourhood of the first consequence ; these 
are the Marmora Iron Works carried to a conside- 
rable extent, and produce some wares, which for 
texture and quality will bear comparison with many 
imported articles of a similar fabric. There are 



CANADA AS IT IS. 95 

the Gananouque Mills, so celebrated for the supe- 
rior quality of flour they manufacture ; and many 
other establishments in the vicinity of this import- 
ant place place, equally deserving of notice. 

On proceeding from Kingston to York, you keep 
in view of Lake Ontario most of the way, and have 
to pass through many very pleasant villages, with 
good inns, affording excellent accommodations. 
Their customs resemble in a great measure the 
manners of their opposite neighbours: for instance, 
whether it be at breakfast, dinner, or supper, they 
rarely spread the table, without putting on an ample 
supply of preserves, such as peaches, plums, 
apples, &c. 

The first village of any consequence, after leav- 
ing Kingston, is Cobourg, — a place newly sprung 
up ; and a most delightful little village it is, — slop- 
ing down to the very water's edge. The houses 
all nearly new, clean, and well-built, mostly sur- 
rounded with tastefully laid out gardens, with the 
neat church topping the hill. The whole village 
from the lake has a most enchanting appearance ; 
the inhabitants, too, are quite of the respectable 
order, — indeed, they pique themselves on keeping 
their society select. 

There are many very extensive farmers in the 
neighbourhood, who cultivate very large tracts of 



96 CANADA AS IT IS. 

land. Some of these agriculturists will trans- 
port in the course of a season two thousand 
bushels of wheat, or upwards. The country is 
pretty well settled for forty miles back, and still 
fast increasing. It must be acknowledged, that 
the manner of managing their farms is a model for 
many other parts of the Province ; they seem to 
adopt the right system of tillage, not merely scratch- 
ing over the land, and just dropping in the seed, 
(as is the custom in many parts of the Province,) 
but properly and effectively breaking up the soil 
with the plough, in a thorough husbandry-like 
manner. It is not the quantity sown to be con- 
sidered, but the principle thing is the state and 
tillage of the land. At least one-third of the land 
in this Province is lost, through a bad system of 
tillage. The best crop that a farmer can have, who 
is poor and has not the means to well dress his 
land, is Indian corn. This is a grain that might 
be just dropped in the earth, and as fast as it 
grows, the hoe will perform the necessary tillage ; 
it will succeed well in the same land for twenty 
years successively ; and it generally finds a ready 
market. The seed that is necessary to plant a 
large breadth of Indian corn, is of no moment, 
consequently, should the crop fail, the loss is not 
felt. There are other kinds of produce that might 



CANADA AS IT IS. 97 

be raised with advantage, principally by hand 
labour. Hemp, for instance, is an article much 
wanted in this Province : still the growth of hemp 
is certainly attended with some expense, and per- 
haps not within the reach of every one. But there 
is another produce of great importance to every 
farmer who has any stock, — a crop which appears 
to be much, if not altogether overlooked in this 
country, which is cat rots ; they are amongst the 
best and most nutritious food for horses; one 
bushel of carrots will yield more nourishment than 
two bushels of oats or potatoes ; and it is a re- 
markable fact, that horses will frequently leave 
oats to feed on carrots, after they have acquired a 
relish for them : generally other cattle as well as 
horses are fond of them, and thrive astonishingly 
well, when fed on them. They not only make 
them in good condition, but give them fine glossy 
coats. If farmers would turn their attention to 
raising this vegetable extensively, they would find 
an immense saving in grain, as well as a visible 
change in the thrift of their animals. Asa matter 
of economy and profit, it is of vast importance. 
The quantity of carrots which may be raised from 
one acre of good land, is almost incredible : when 
the land is rich and mellow, an acre will yield from 
one to two thousand bushels ; the process is sim- 



98 CANADA AS IT IS. 

pie, and the labour comparatively light ; — select a 
rich piece of ground, tolerably dry, and as free 
from weeds as possible : plough it deep, make it 
mellow, and harrow it smooth ; then sow your 
ground with the usual quantity of flaxseed, and 
harrow it in ; after this sow about a quart of car- 
rot seed to the acre, and brush it lightly, — both 
seeds will come up together ; but the flax spring- 
ing up with considerable rapidity, will so shade the 
carrots, that they will not gain much size till the 
flax is pulled. The shade of the flax will also pre- 
vent the weeds from growing, so as to interfere 
with the carrots. After the flax is pulled, which 
will be in July, the carrots will begin to flourish ; 
especially if the weeds have been kept in check 
by the shade ; for the pulling of the flax will so 
loosen the earth around them, and so expose them 
to the rays of the sun, as to give them new vigour 
and strength ; at that time, also, the weeds will 
not grow rapidly, if at all. Thus may be raised 
two valuable crops, without impoverishing the land 
more than by a crop of corn or oats. It is not 
probable that the first attempt will yield so largely 
as has been suggested above, but if the proper pre- 
cautions be taken, and are tolerably successful, 
one acre will produce about one thousand bushels 
of carrots, worth — 



CANADA AS IT IS. 99 

I shilling per bushel, £50 00 

300 lbs. flax, worth 4d per lb. 5 00 

6 bushels flaxseed, about 2 00 

To what use can an acre of land be applied by 
which it will produce half the amount 1 This may 
seem a large estimate, but it is, nevertheless true ; 
and if any one wish to test the malter, let them. try 
it next season. Horses will work on carrots as 
well as on oats, and keep in much better order. The 
above might probably be considered experimental 
farming ; but in farming as well as in other matters, 
experiments have brought to light many valuable 
discoveries ; in gardening in particular, and in all 
botanical researches, which to husbandry are near- 
ly akin, to what amazing perfection the system of 
gardening is brought at home ; and yet no further 
back than the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Holland 
furnished us with green peas, and even potatoes. 
But men generally do not relish the idea of going 
out of their regular track ; they consider that to 
stoop to advice is beneath their notice, and hence 
they plod on in their own unprofitable way for the 
want of a more enlightened and productive system. 
All the steam-boats navigating Lake Ontario, 
both up and down, touch at Albany, which renders 
it a village of some importance. 



100 CANADA AS IT IS. 

On leaving Cobourg, you pass on the high road 
leading to the capital of Upper Canada, the coun- 
try is in many places along the line of this road 
still a wilderness ; here and there are some good 
clearances, but they are not general till near Port 
Hope, which is sixty miles below York. This is 
another village similar to Cobourg, but not so 
large : it also butts on Lake Ontario, over which it 
has an extensive view. Port Hope contains at 
present about forty or fifty dwellings, and is now 
one of those pretty pleasant country villages so 
often to be met with. 

Leaving Port Hope you now soon arrive at 
what might be termed the Yorkshire of Upper 
Canada ; for here are the towns of Darlington, 
Scarborough, Harrowgate, Whitby and Pickering, 
and a township called Scarborough ; and these 
places are settled very much by natives from York- 
shire. Many of the Upper Canada loyalists have 
settled on and about Scarborough. Doubtless the 
term is generally understood ; they are persons 
from the United States, originally from British 
parents, who at the time of the American war, 
would not, from conscientious motives, take up 
arms against their original country and kindred. 
They withdrew from the States, and placed them- 
selves under the protection of the British govern- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 101 

ment, who as a recompense for the sacrifices they 
had made, gave them grants of lands iu the Cana- 
das, and also to their children. 

When within about six miles of the town of 
York, it presents a very good and extensive view 
of it, stretching itself along the beach, on the north- 
west side of the harbour. In the distant view, and 
commanding the entrance to the harbour, is the 
garrison, which has a very formidable appear- 
ance. The suburbs are marked by all those 
characteristics observable in the vicinity of most 
large towns at home. Dotted here and there 
are neat pretty villas, built on a handsome construc- 
tion, having those compact little paddocks and 
shrubberies which so much adorn the country- 
house. 

The first structure that engages the attention, is 
the new, handsome, and substantial wooden bridge 
built over the river Don. In the entrance to the 
town as well as this, many other handsome and 
useful buildings which now ornament it, was com- 
pleted, under the direction of the present excellent 
Governor Sir John Colborne. 

The next building of any consequence is the 
arge brick Catholic Church, a most substantial 
edifice. A distinguishing feature in the town of 
if oik is the numerous substantial brick dwelling- 



102 CANADA AS IT IS. 

houses. The town is laid out with numerous 
streets butting on the lake shore, and crossing 
transversely the main street at right angles, called 
King-street ; which runs in a straight line through 
the heart of the town, for a mile and a quarter in 
length. Here is a Newgate-street and a Cheap- 
side, a Poultr)>, and Snow Hill, and many other 
names familiarly known in the British metropolis. 
Here is also another singular accumulation of 
names ; for on the whole side of one street,t he in- 
habitants which comprised only two names, (Arm- 
strong and Rideau.) 

There are a great number of stores in York, and 
some of them are really elegant, and well supplied 
with the choicest wares manufactured in Europe. 
They all appear to do a great deal of business. 
York is altogether a place of extensive trade with 
the western part of the Upper Province ; and the 
thickly settled townships surrounding it, is in fact 
the bay to this important part of Upper Canada. 
It is astonishing in the time of sleighing in the 
winter, when the roads are good, to see the num- 
ber of large sleighs, with ivheat and various kinds 
of produce, coming into the town ; and it is alto- 
gether a very novel sight. Sometimes will be 
observed fifteen or twenty of those large box sleds, 
some drawn by two horses, others by four, all at 



CANADA AS IT IS. 103 

full trot with their bells jingling, some driven by 
jolly looking Quakers, some by the singular sect 
called Tankards, who never shave their beards, — 
these growing nearly down to their middles, and with 
their little skimmer hats and long coats, have a 
most extraordinary appearance. — Then comes an 
Indian, with his well known dress, the universal 
blanket, driving in a load of frozen deer to mar- 
ket, — next a Yankee, with his load of frozen pigs, 
all as stiff as the shafts of his sleigh, himself dressed 
in his homespnn suit of brown, — all these charac- 
ters form a very striking contrast. The quantity 
of wheat deposited in York during the winter is 
very great ; many of the principal storekeepers of 
the town purchasing very largely of this commodity. 
A large body of the farmers in Yonge-street, and 
in the townships in the vicinity of York, have 
adopted the plan of storing their own wheat ; they 
have formed themselves into an association, and 
have built a very large storage at York, on the 
margin of the lake, where they store it in the win- 
ter, while the roads are good, and transport it down 
in the Spring, — thus securing to themselves the 
best prices. They have their secretary in York to 
see to the storage, and keep the account of de- 
posits* &c. 

H 



104 CANADA AS IT IS. 

The public market of York is uncommonly well 
supplied daily with fresh meat, poultry, vegetables, 
butter, cheese, &c. both in summer and winter. The 
present market house, which is extensive, appears 
scarcely large enough to accommodate the inhabi- 
tants of this fast increasing town. A contract has 
been made for the erection of a new market-house, 
and it is stated, that the estimated cost of the build- 
ing will be about six thousand five hundred pounds 
currency. The prices of meat generally in the 
York market is, for beef about three pence per 
pound ; mutton four pence ; veal the same ; a fat 
goose for two shillings ; turkeys three and six- 
pence to five shillings ; fowls nine pence to one 
shilling and six pence ; butter eight to ten pence ; 
cheese five pence. 

York is also at some seasons of the year well 
supplied with fish taken in the lake. The salmon 
is excellent, and in great plenty. The lake salmon 
does not quite equal in flavour that taken in salt 
water. The colour is not so bright, but the fish 
are equally large, and very good eating. They 
are not caught in nets, but with the spear ; the 
fisherman goes out at night in canoes or boats, 
keeping a light in the bow, which attracts the fish, 
when they are struck with the barbed spear, and 
easily secured. The lakes produce another very 



CANADA AS IT IS. 105 

excellent fish, called white fish, generally of about 
three or four pounds weight ; also the blue backed 
herring, much larger than the common herring, but 
of the same species. It is somewhat like the fresh 
herring, but rather of a milkish flavour. In fact, 
the most of those fish in the lakes are migraters 
from the sea ; and there is no doubt, if the sea- 
fish could be introduced into the lakes, but they 
would breed and thrive in fresh water. 

A gentleman of Upper Canada has proposed to 
the House of Assembly to vote the sum of five 
hundred pounds, to be appropriated to the pur- 
chase of all kinds of live sea fish, lobsters, oysters, 
and all descriptions of shell as well as other sea- 
fish, to be deposited in the lakes, for the purpose 
of trying the experiment of raising an inland sup- 
ply. The various descriptions of herring (known 
to be natives of the sea) — flourish in these waters. 
There can be no reason why other natives of the 
same element should not also succeed, at least, it 
is not improbable. They now have a supply of 
fresh cod and oysters at York in the winter, but 
they are brought a distance of six or seven hun- 
dred miles, and of course the price is proportion- 
ate. 

York is fast becoming a place of considerable 
importance. The situation is central, between a 
H2 



106 CANADA AS IT IS. 

great extent of inland navigation and a very large 
tract of well settled country. All the supplies, for 
above a hundred and fifty miles above it, are drawn 
from York. There are already many considerable 
establishments in its neighbourhood, such as paper 
makers, hatters, parchment makers, potteries, and 
many other branches; and the mechanics generally, 
in and about York, are the most ingenious and best 
in the Province, and are here very numerous. 

The grist-mills in the vicinity of York, too, de- 
serve notice ; they are upon a most ingenious and 
effective construction ; they are after the American 
model, and are certainly the most simple, effective, 
and expeditious in their operations. It is not the 
custom here for millers to measure in the wheat 
they purchase, but to weigh all at the rate of sixty 
pounds to the bushel. The mills receive the wheat 
at the weighing machine ; it then passes on in 
a trough worked by cogs, placed in rollers ; then 
by conductors, — (these are a kind of leather pouch, 
each holding about a pint) — it is taken up to the 
smut machine, then to the fanning mill ; from 
thence down to the grinding stones ; up again by 
conductors to be bolted ; from thence it passes in- 
to the large receiving bin, and into the barrels. — 
Thus the wheat is taken in at. the weighing ma- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 107 

chine, passes through all these evolutions ; and 
from the time of its being weighed till it is fine 
flour, and in the barrel, no hand touches it :|it is 
all done by a simple piece of machinery. Flour 
and wheat are articles of considerable trade at 
York. Salt is another article of importance ; and 
nearly, if not quite all, the salt that passes through 
the hands of the merchants at York, is imported 
from Onondaga in the States, where it is made. 
The amount paid to the Americans, for this single 
article, in the course of a year, must be some thou- 
sands of pounds. There are the same facilities 
for manufacturing salt in some parts of the Upper 
Province, which they have in the inland part of 
the States — namely, salt springs : but who is to 
advance the necessary capital, in this Province, re- 
quired to carry on such works ? We have no 
banks here to assist us. Thus thousands are annu- 
ally spent in the Province, both for this and many 
other necessaries. 

The inns and other places of accommodation 
are very numerous in York ; and some of them 
are kept in the best order, and on a very large scale. 
There are likewise many private boarding-houses, 
equal, if not superior, to any in the Province ; and 
the charges, considering the nature of those ac- 
H3 



108 (CANADA AS IT IS. 

commodations, very reasonable. Many of the 
taverns are kept by Americans. 

It is no uncommon thing in taverns in the States 
to find a Bible placed in each bed-room, for the use 
of visiters ; and some of these taverns will supply 
no liquors, on Sundays, to any persons but those 
really travelling ; and a very excellent and proper 
regulation it certainly is. 

The arrival of the numerous emigrants at York, 
during the summer, is a source of great profit to 
the tavern-keepers. In fact, many of them loiter 
at these houses much too long for their own 
interest. The numerous groups of emigrants 
collected on the beach, immediately after the arri- 
val of a steam-boat, is a scene of no common in- 
terest, and exhibits a very singular taste in the 
ideas of economy. You will see, probably, a few 
old chairs not worth half a dollar each, which have 
been brought nearly or quite five thousand miles ; 
with old bedsteads, and other pieces of common 
furniture, that could have been disposed of at home 
for nearly as much as new would cost here ; for 
wood being so very abundant in Canada, these 
common articles of furniture are very cheap in 
most parts of the Province; very good common 
chairs, quite new, are to be bought for four or five 
shillings each, and sometimes less ; but the people 



CANADA AS IT IS. 



109 



at home imagine there are no persons here who 
can manufacture these kind of things. In this 
they are much mistaken ; for such is the accumu- 
lation of furniture for sale in the Upper Province, 
that the body of cabinet makers of York, during 
the last session of the Assembly, petitioned the 
House to pass an act prohibiting the importation 
of furniture from the United States ; therefore, 
emigrants should not bring any lumbering heavy 
furniture with them to this country. 

The navigable part of the emigrant's long jour- 
ney generally ends at York ; and here are to be 
seen groups of men, women, and children, each 
betraying, in their countenances, marks of the un- 
settled state of their ideas in this, to them, strange 
country. Some are anxiously seeking their friends ; 
some are inquiring for the most eligible situations 
to settle in ; others are endeavouring to procure 
present employment : and many are the dupes of 
unprincipled characters, who, for the sake of plun- 
dering these poor strangers, often lead them into 
situations the most inimical to their interest. 

The trades of York appear to be more distinctly 
classed than are to be observed in many other 
towns in Canada. There are drapers who appear 
to keep only those peculiar kind of goods in their 
immediate line, denominated drv goods. Here 
H4 



110 CANADA AS IT IS. 

are grocery and spirit stores, selling nothing but 
heavy kinds of goods, spirits, and wines. Whig* 
key is an article to be had exceedingly cheap, as 
low as one shilling and six pence a gallon : cider, 
too, is very cheap — at about three pence per gal- 
lon, and very good. There are in York iron- 
mongers, silversmiths, druggists, stationers, &c, 
who respectively seem to confine themselves to 
the sale of their legitimate articles of trade. 

The suburbs of York are remarkable for the 
rich appearance of its numerous gardens, which 
exhibit the evident marks of a congenial climate. 
Apples, particularly, thrive in the greatest luxu- 
riance. Most kinds of fruit and vegetables seem to 
flourish here ; the red currant and the plum grow 
to a very great size ; cabbages, celery, cauliflow- 
ers, and in fact all kinds of culinary vegetables, 
are raised here in the greatest abundance. They 
have here a pea called the six week pea, which is 
planted and comes to maturity in six weeks. Many 
fruits and vegetables are raised in Upper Canada 
which will not come to perfection at home, at least 
not in the open air. Melons are here planted 
openly in the gardens, or in the fields ; indeed, 
they succeed best on a spot where a log heap has 
been burnt. Cucumbers also grow to an uncom- 
mon size when planted in the same spots. They 



CANADA AS IT IS. Ill 

are also much better than those grown in Europe. 
If some kinds of garden seeds are sown here in 
the fall of the year, they succeed well ; and persons 
would profit much by adopting this system — of 
sowing onions, carrots, parsnips, and asparagus, 
and other kinds of the hardy plants, that frost will 
not injure. Seeds, by being sown in the fall of the 
year, acquire an early growth in the Spring, and 
get strong before the grub attacks them. 

About fifty miles above York, towards the West- 
ern District, and at Niagara, which is thirty-six 
miles across the lake, peaches grow in the greatest 
abundance, on trees planted in the gardens or or- 
chards, just the same as the apples. They are 
not so large as those raised on wall trees, nor have 
they the same rich appearance ; they are green 
when ripe, but are very sweet and good, — are used 
in great quantities for preserving, and are also 
made into peach brandy. They are brought from 
Niagara to York in very large boat loads, and sold 
out of the boats at the wharf side, at sometimes a 
shilling, and even as low as six pence a bushel. 

The harbour of York presents a scene of great 
interest when the navigation of the lake is open. 
Her placid waters being the receptacle of a great 
variety of craft, — light fancy painted skiffs, some 
for pleasure, some for business, a numerous an- 
H5 



112 CANADA AS IT IS. 

chorage of sloops freighted with a variety of pro- 
duce ; one handsome steamer, just departing ; 
another of portentous dimensions, just now seen 
in the offing, — regarded with an anxious eye by 
the groups of characters walking to and fro on the 
long extended wharf. The whole scene presents 
to the view an interest not easily conceived. 

There have been for the last two or three years, 
three large steam-boats running constantly between 
Prescott and Niagara, — the splendid new steamer, 
the Great Britain, now makes the fourth. Nia- 
gara is merely the nominal place of destination. 
The steam-boats generally land four fifths of their 
cargoes and passengers at York. The Canada 
runs every morning to Niagara, and returns the 
same afternoon. There is also another at the 
head of the lake, taking passengers and loading 
for Hamilton, Dundas, Ancaster, and all parts of 
the west. 

The improvements in the town of York are 
making inconceivable progress. Both public and 
private buildings, of the most substantial kind, are 
being erected in all directions. They are mostly 
of brick, of which article there is now an immense 
quantity made near the town. Mechanics of all 
grades obtain ready employment. The supplies 
of lumber and other building materials are not more 



CANADA AS IT IS. 113 

than commensurate with the demand. In fact, thw 
prosperity and growth of the capital seems to keep 
pace with the general improvement cf the Pro- 
vince. 

The large handsome brick buildings, now near- 
ly completed, immediately opposite the lake, re- 
flect the greatest credit on those engaged in their 
erection. These buildings are intended for the 
sittings of the Houses of Assembly, and the legis- 
lative body ; and also for the occupation of some 
of the public offices. The government here ap- 
pears to be concentrating the public offices under 
the same roof, — a most desirable regulation ; for 
at present they are distributed all over town ; and 
after a person has transacted business at one office, 
it takes him half a day to find out the next. The 
Government House, (the present residence of 
Sir John Colborne,) is a large white painted build- 
ing, immediately in the rear of the building just 
alluded to. It altogether occupies about four acres 
of land, comprising a shrubbery, garden, &c. A 
sergeant's guard is always in attendance, and due 
military etiquette is observed. The greatest ur- 
banity and attention is shown to all applicants on 
business, without distinction. 

Facing the Government House is the new Col- 
lege of Upper Canada, comprising a large extent 



114 CANADA AS IT IS. 

of buildings. The present number of scholars is 
about two hundred. There are three classical 
masters — two writing masters — a drawing and 
French master, with a few assistants. The estab- 
lishment of this college is of the most incalculable 
advantage to the residents in and near York, and 
of Upper Canada generally ; for here they have 
the means of giving their sons a liberal education 
for a comparatively trifling expense, the whole of 
the college fees not amounting to more than eight 
or ten pounds a year. 

Near the college stands the hospital, a large 
commodious building, well adapted for the purpose 
for which it is intended. 

There are many elegant private residences in 
the vicinity of York, built in a style that would do 
credit to any place in Europe. The jail and court- 
house are built in a manner that renders them an 
ornament to the body of the town. The House of 
Assembly is at present held at the court-house. 
It consists of about fifty members — attorneys, doc- 
tors, farmers, merchants, &c. 

The place where they now hold their sittings, is 
in an immense room about eighty feet in length by 
forty in breadth. There are three or four anti- 
rooms for the accommodation of committees, &c. 
Tftfc loom of sitting is fitted up with every con- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 115 

venience for the accommodation of the members. 
Each member has a desk, enclosing a secretaire 
for the deposite of his letters and papers. At the 
extremity of the room is an elevated throne under 
a canopy ; above which are his Majesty's coat of 
arms. The throne is occupied by the speaker, 
who sits in his robe of office and shovel hat. There 
are the mace bearer, sergeant-at-arms, usher of 
the black rod, &c, all in attendance. There is 
also an elevated enclosure for the accommodation 
of the gentlemen of the press. 

The House usually sits from the beginning of 
January to the middle of March. At the opening 
of the session, the Governor goes in state to the 
House in a similar form to that observed by the 
King at home — being here his representative. 

The bank of York is a large handsome building, 
entered by a flight of stone steps ; having doors, 
and the fittings up in the inside, of mahogany. The 
business, which is now very considerable, seems 
to be conducted with great regularity and despatch. 
There are no lack of professional men in York, 
having a considerable number of lawyers and doc- 
tors. The periodical publications appear to be very 
well supported in the town and its vicinity. There 
are five regular weekly papers, besides the Govern- 
ment Gazette — these are the Courier, the Colonial 



116 CANADA AS IT IS. 

Advocate, Canadian Freeman, Observer, and the 
Christian Guardian.. The price of papers in 
Canada is generally four dollars a year. 

There is great encouragement for mechanics in 
and about York. The wages of smiths and car- 
penters are seven shillings and six pence a day ; 
masons about the same. Most other trades are 
well paid. They certainly may live very much 
cheaper here than at home ; and if they are sober 
men, they have a chance of saving money. Shoe 
makers, hatters, and tailors, get the highest wages 
in York, for such is the gaiety of this thriving 
town, that their respective trades are well encou- 
raged. Here are advertising boot makers from 
** Hoby's," tailors from " Bond-street," and milli- 
ners and dress makers from the " West End ;" in 
fact, here is a London in miniature. The place is 
yet too small to support a regular theatre ; although 
they have occasionally some travelling performers. 
The gaiety of York is developed in their private 
parties, which is greatly enhanced by the beauty 
and vivacity of the fair sex. 

The religious sects are of many denominations, 
— the Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, 
Congregationalists, and Episcopalians ; and what- 
ever they might be in other parts of the Province, 
the latter are the most numerous in the capital. 



CANADA AS IT 13. 117 

The site of York is admirably chosen, as far as 
regards its convenience for the navigation of Lake 
Ontario ; possessing a safe, commodious, and 
capacious bay, securing to craft of every descrip- 
tion a safe anchorage. The lands, also, on the 
western side of the town, are high and dry, and 
admirably adapted for building, but there is a great 
drawback on the score of its unhealthiness of situa- 
tion on the eastern side of the town, which, it is 
much to be feared, is irremoveable. At the head 
of the bay, which comes to the east side of York, 
are some very extensive stagnant marshes ; they 
extend for six or seven miles ; and are considered 
to be the principal agents in germinating the local 
diseases felt more or less in and about the town. 

In Reesorville are two good taverns, two or 
three smiths, carpenters, a saddler, tailors, shoe 
makers, a regular post-office, several stores, and a 
church is now being built. 

These little new villages, built up in the centre 
of the forest, have a most extraordinary appear- 
ance to any person who has been familiar with 
European towns. There, the immense space of 
surrounding' country, all open to the view, is gene- 
rally seen : here is, as it were, a town fenced in 
by an interminable forest. 



118 CANADA AS IT IS. 

A person travelling through the bush, feels much 
about the same sensation as he would, were he to 
be travelling through any part of the United King- 
dom, with a bandage over his eyes, and only hav- 
ing it released upon his coming to any town or 
village. He is not always lonesome on his way ; 
he sometimes may see a deer crossing his path ; 
or the red or black squirrel playing in the trees ; 
and peradventure he might meet with a bear. 

Birds are seldom to be seen much in the heart 
of the forest, with the exception of the solitary 
woodpecker. The feathered tribe generally ap- 
pear to be of a social habit ; in the clearances, 
and near the villages they appear to be most at 
home. The inhabitants in this neighbourhood 
derive a great advantage from the abundance of 
salmon in the river Ruish, a small stream commu- 
nicating with Lake Ontario. Each family in the 
Spring obtains enough to supply them for many 
months. 

Further on in this direction of the country, lie 
the thriving townships of Brock, Innisfil, and 
others. Lands about these townships are to be 
had cheap, and consequently a desirable place of 
settlement for the emigrant who has but small 
means ; and the roads, all through this part of the 
country to York, are good. 



CANADA AS IT IS. 119 

On the Yonge-street, about eighteen miles from 
York, are the very high lands, called the Oak 
Ridges ; they extend for some miles, and are 
nearly all sandy and poor. But from hence up- 
wards, the soil is of the most fertile description. 
On the top of these Ridges, is a lake of about a 
mile in circumference, and said to be twenty or 
' thirty fathoms in depth. A few miles beyond 
them is the settlement of the curious sect called 
Tankards. They are dissenting Quakers; they 
do not marry ; their dress is a long suit of home- 
spun brown cloth ; they do not shave their beards, 
and altogether exhibit a most singular appearance. 

A few miles from hence is the town of New- 
market, a place of importance in this part of the 
country. Newmarket comprises about a hundred 
houses ; it is situated in the heart of a rich pro- 
ductive country, and is a place of great business of 
various descriptions. Here are two excellent grist- 
mills ; besides saw-mills, a hat and chair manu- 
factory, which are very extensive ; and a cloth or 
carding mill. The texture of the cloth made at 
this mill is of a fair quality ; and the farmers in the 
neighbourhood have only to dress and prepare 
their wool a little, when it is taken to the mill, and 
is returned a good serviceable cloth. 

Newmarket is quite a manufacturing town, upon 



120 CANADA AS IT IS. 

a small scale. Here is a large fur establishment, 
where they carry on an extensive trade in furs with 
the Indians about Lake Huron, and further north- 
ward. Here may be occasionally seen a body of 
Indians ; they are very large, being on an average 
at least seven feet high ; and their limbs are in 
proportion. These are entirely devoid of clothing, 
and their arms are certainly as large as the fore 
leg of an ox. They are part of a tribe of Indians, 
inhabiting the country about the Rocky Mountains, 
ten or fifteen hundred miles from hence. They 
were at war with a neighbouring tribe, who, not- 
withstanding their gigantic size, appear to have 
been more than a match for them, for the last 
party seen at York were a few, deputed by 
their tribe, to come down with the view of solicit- 
ing the assistance of the government against the 
hostile tribes. The government of course refused 
to interfere, and they were obliged to return to 
their own regions. They appear to be possessed 
of great strength and agility ; they can run as fast 
as a middling horse can gallop. 

All kinds of produce are raised in great plenty 
in the vicinity of Newmarket. They are remark- 
able here for the extremely fine quality of their 
honey ; it is quite equal to the Narbonne honey, 
so celebrated in Europe. 



CANADA AS IT IS. 121 

The next place, five miles beyond Newmarket, 
is one of the most interesting little villages in the 
whole Province. From the peculiarity of the sect, 
the Davidites, or Children of Peace, as they call 
themselves, who inhabit it, and to whom it belongs, 
it is generally called the Tillage of Hope. Some 
call it David's Town, from the name of its founder, 
David Wilson, who is still living, and the head of 
this sect. The road from Newmarket to David's 
Town lies in a zigzag direction, and the village 
opens abruptly to the view, which gives it a pecu- 
liarly striking effect. Its site is most picturesque, 
being situated on the declivity of a hill of conside- 
rable elevation. The village is composed of about 
forty or fifty remarkably neat, clean dwellings; 
but what gives the most imposing effect is, the 
handsome newly built temple, which is built near- 
ly on the summit of the hill, and is now nearly 
finished. It is intended for their public worship, 
and is built somewhat after the manner of Solo- 
mon's Temple. It is of a pyramidical form : the 
extreme height is about eighty feet; length and 
breadth of base about seventy feet, — contracting 
in elevation. It is decorated at the top with a 
gilded ball. The whole is of wood work, and 
painted white. The fitting up of the interior does 
them much credit. There is a handsome pulpit ; 



*22 CANADA AS IT IS. 

also an orchestra for the musicians, and their sing- 
ing virgins, and every accommodation that can be 
desired. The building and finishing of this tem- 
ple have been accomplished wholly by themselves. 
This sect lives in a little community, entirely to 
themselves. All matters of dispute arising be- 
tween them are referred to David ; he was their 
founder ; he is now their director and lawgiver : 
all their produce passes through his hands. They 
are many of them farmers, cultivating the lands 
surrounding the village. David keeps the store : 
the general produce of the community is deposit- 
ed with him, and is conveyed to York, for sale, 
regularly twice a- week ; and he accounts to the 
different members for the amount of produce sent 
to market. This David Wilson is a singular 
and original character : he is very anxious to ob- 
tain converts to his creed, for which purpose he 
goes about to the different villages, for twenty 
miles or more, to deliver his doctrines. He fre- 
quently preaches in York ; and wherever he goes, 
he draws large congregations, — not only to hear 
his preaching, which is purely original, but also 
his singing men, his musicians, and his virgins, — 
some of which always follow in his train. 
■ David, in person, is of the middle stature, about 
sixty year,- of nge, a healthy looking man : he 



CANADA AS IT IS. 123 

squints much, and has a flat heavy appearance, 
He, in common with the whole of the sect, wears a 
homespun hlueish mixture : his walk is peculiar, — 
he appears to move as if he were pulling: his legs 
after him ; his speech has a strong nasal twang, 
— his dwelling is a large respectable house near 
the temple, — the virgins have a separate apart- 
ment, — they are all kept well employed ; some at 
spinning, others sewing, and different kinds of 
work. The principle of the Davidites appears to 
be, a mutual assistance to each other. They are 
not absolutely embodied in one and the same socie- 
ty, as is the case with Mr. Owen's establishments : 
but though living in one community, and having 
their laws and regulations within themselves, yet, 
as to personal property, each individual is distinct. 
David obtained a large quantity of land, which he 
sells out to the different members of his sect. 
They all have separate farms, but each member 
turns in his surplus produce to David for advances, 
&c, made ; they severally contribute towards the 
general expenses of the establishment, — such as 
building their temple, or any other undertaking for 
their general accommodation. Any man who has 
a farm or other occupation may, if he choose, be- 
come a convert to this sect, and join in the com- 
munity,^ — submitting, of course, to their laws and 
12 



124 CANADA AS IT IS. 

regulations. This singular sect, though professing 
the doctrines of Christianity, appear to consider it 
as indispensable to unite with it as much as pos- 
sible the observance of some part of the ordinances 
contained in the Mosaic law. They profess to 
take the model of their institution from some parts 
of the book of Kings. 

David has an establishment of virgins, who 
keep up an annual feast, after the manner of the 
feast of Belshazzar, and some other religious ob- 
servances, in accordance with the ancient Mosaic 
institutions. On the occasion of their annual feast, 
they prepare the most sumptuous and expensive 
entertainment, which is open to all who choose 
to attend. There is music, dancing, and every 
demonstration of joy. The Davidites, although 
strictly enforcing the rigid principles of their 
doctrine, do not* conform themselves in the out- 
ward man, at least, as far as regards their 
dress, to any particular plainness of habit. The 
virgins, when seen at a place of worship, are all 
dressed in white, and uniformly. They, together 
with all the women belonging to the sect, used to 
be drilled to the use of rire-arms, probably in case 
of extremity, to defend themselves ; on one occa- 
sion, however, one of their muskets burst, after 
which accident they declined the practice. Any 



CANADA AS IT IS. 125 

of the unmarried men of the sect, who takes a fancy 
to either of the virgins, makes known his ideas to 
David, who communicates to her the proposal 
made ; and if she should wish to enter into the 
holy state of matrimony, an appointment is made 
for a meeting of two hours' duration ; (which is all 
that is allowed ;) and when a final decision, either 
favorable or otherwise, is made. 

The sect of Davidites have not been located 
here more than about fifteen or twenty years. 
They give ample proof of having rapidly increased 
in number and property, which clearly demonstrate 
that where a settlement is closely connected, — 
where they are concentrated as nearly as possible, 
— where there are every means of communication 
that can be desired, — and where, in fact, they study 
each others' interests, — it is then that settlements 
will prosper. 

Each individual has his own immediate success 
at stake ; which is a wholesome stimulus to every 
man's exertion ; although the whole body have a 
corresponding feeling for the success and pros- 
perity of each other ; for they are well aware, that 
although each distinct member depends on him- 
self, yet if the whole body be not prosperous, it 
must operate in some degree inimical to the inte- 
rest of all. 

13 



126 CANADA AS IT IS. 

The country around Newmarket is much settled 
by Quakers ; particularly the township of Whit- 
church. They are a most industrious class of peo- 
ple : those to be met with in many parts, are of pe- 
culiarly reserved, shy, primitive kind of habits, un- 
sociable and apparently have little or no correspon- 
dence with the rest of mankind. But the Quakers, 
settled hereabouts, are of a very different cha- 
racter; for though they have a peculiarity of man- 
ners, yet they are a cheerful, free, pleasant people 
and extremely hospitable. They are branches of the 
original sect settled in Pennsylvania, and many of 
them are wealthy, and appear to live in very com- 
fortable circumstances. Their houses are always 
open to strangers, and the best their house affords. 

The road leading towards Lake Simcoe, through 
the township of Georgina, is well settled. Here 
is rather a large settlement of half-pay officers, 
who appear to live very respectably. Lake Sim- 
coe is about twenty miles across, and is in the 
direct line with Penetanguishene. About seventy 
miles above Newmarket, Lake Simcoe is a beauti- 
ful picturesque spot, affording an abundance of 
fish, particularly salmon, which are taken here, 
both in winter and summer. 

Penetanguishene is a station of the government, 
where a strong garrison is regularly kept up. As 



CANADA AS IT IS. 127 

a point of defence, it is most judiciously chosen, 
and is capable of defending a large tract of coun- 
try. It is so defended by nature, that no enemy 
could ever surprise it. This post is at the extre- 
mity of the settled part of Upper Canada. The cli- 
mate here is much the same as in other parts of the 
Upper Province ; probably the winters are a little 
shorter : but they are in some seasons very severe, 
— the thermometer frequently at twenty-five and 
thirty degrees below zero. This is a part of the 
globe where the Northern Lights, or the Aurora 
Borealis, are seen to great perfection. Sometimes 
they appear absolutely to blaze in the air. 

The country further northward is very imper- 
fectly, if at all known, except to the Indians ; and 
they have a -particular antipathy against giving any 
information whatever respecting the extreme in- 
land parts of the country : they are afraid, as they 
say, of White Man, lest they should destroy their 
hunting ground. 

The country between Lake Simcoe and Pene- 
tanguishene is but partially settled. The situation 
is as yet too insulated for settlers ; the soil and 
climate are good ; and in the course of a few more 
years, there is no doubt but this will become a 
flourishing part of the province. 
14 



128 CANADA AS IT IS. 

The other main road out of York is called Dun- 
das-street, which leads round by Hamilton to Nia- 
gara, a distance by land of one hundred miles. 
Niagara and the immediate surrounding country 
is now styled the garden of the Upper Province. 
Certain it is, that in the neighborhood of Niagara, 
Queenstown, St. Catharines, &c, the climate is 
peculiarly mild, and vegetation flourishes in an 
astonishing degree. Dundas-street was originally 
intended to extend from Kingston to Talbot's set- 
tlement, a distance of five hundred miles. The 
whole line of road is now laid out and traversed ; 
but the only part of it that is known as Dundas- 
sfcreet, is that between York and Dundas, a dis- 
tance of fifty miles. At the commencement of 
this road, out of York, during about seven miles, 
are the plains, or high lands ; the country has then 
a more interesting appearance, and is remarkably 
well settled. About ten miles from York is an 
excellent inn, kept by a Yorkshireman, — a man 
whose whole attention and interest seem to be 
devoted to the health and well-being of his horses. 
This person keeps a good house, and is the chief 
proprietor of the stages running between York and 
Hamilton, for it is now a regular stage thorough- 
fare from York round to Niagara, and the road is 
excellent all the way. The road from York to 



CANADA AS IT IS. 129 

Hamilton is remarkable for the most picturesque 
scenery that is probably to be met with on any 
road of the same distance in the world : the deep 
glens give it a peculiar novelty. In some of these 
glens you have to descend a declivity of a mile or 
more, so perpendicular, that on the approach to it 
you appear to be going straight forward from the 
edge of one precipice to the other, — (for the valley 
is not a quarter of a mile wide at the bottom,) — 
when all at once the immense gulf beneath opens 
to the view ; — particularly at what is called the 
Sixteen Mile Creek. 

A kw miles from this place, is the interesting 
Indian village, called Hurontario. It is composed 
of about forty houses, inhabited wholly by Indians. 
They have - each a few acres of land attached to 
their dwellings, for the purpose of raising vegeta- 
bles, &c. They follow their usual occupations of 
hunting, fishing, &c, and are by far the most 
civilized body of Indians that are to be met with 
in the Canadas. They are a remnant of the tribe 
of the late celebrated Indian Chief Tecumseh, — a 
Chief who distinguished himself in a very remark- 
able manner in the last American war in which he 
was slain. 

Tecumseh was the Napoleon among the Indians 
of the West He fought and led on his bands most 
15 



130 CANADA AS IT IS. 

heroically, in concert with the British troops* 
against the American forces, and fell nobly, and 
was deeply lamented. His name was equally a 
terror to his enemies, as it was. eulogized and 
venerated by his immediate followers. Our go- 
vernment, as a reward for the merits of this tribe, 
has been at the entire expense of building this 
village for their removal. Tt also makes them 
annual presents cf blankets, provisions, &c. 
There is a school established in the village, which 
is most ably conducted by a Mr. Jones, a native 
of 'the tribe, but who has received a good educa- 
tion in England, and is a well-informed, gentle- 
manly young man. They have a chapel, and Mr. 
Jones is also their minister. At their devotions 
they appear to be most devout and attentive. They 
have deposited with them an English standard, 
which they fail not to hoist on any particular occa- 
sion, — such as a visit from the governor, &c. 

The village of Hurontario is the picture of 
neatness and cleanliness ; and it imparts a most 
pleasant feeling to see these poor savages now re- 
claimed from a life of barbarism and ignorance, 
living in comfort and prosperity, and under the 
dictates of a pure and rational religion. 

Dundas-street is so remarkably well settled, — 
there are so many good inns, excellent farm-houses 



CANADA AS IT IS. 131 

surrounded by thriving young well-bearing orchards, 
the whole of the road interspersed with many hand- 
some villas, some very superior, — that it naturally 
suggests to the mind of the traveller, of his 
passing through a country on the other side of the 
Atlantic. 

About thirty miles above York was, some few 
years ago, the residence of Mr. Gait, the ex-su- 
perintendant of the Canada Company's affairs 
here. It is a most delightful spot, having a very 
extensive view both over a large tract of inland 
country, and also over Lake Ontario, Burlington 
Bay, &c. Here the road to Guelph branches off 
out of the Dundas-street. It is from hence twen- 
ty-six miles. This is the only place in Canada 
where hand-posts are put up to denote the places 
and distance to where the roads lead ; probably 
these were erected by the Company. The road to 
Guelph is good, and pretty well settled. The city 
was laid out and built principally by the Canada 
Company : it bears the name in honor to the royal 
family of England. It is a scattered kind of place. 
There are a few tolerable good inns, — mechanics 
of various grades, smiths, carpenters, a grist and 
saw mill, a brewery, &c. This was intended as 
the principal station of the Company, and doubt- 
less they anticipated a rapid flow of settlers to ac- 



132 CANADA AS IT IS. 

cumulate in its neighborhood, but this expectation 
has not been altogether realized ; however, it must 
be recollected that Guelph is as yet quite in its in- 
fancy : five years ago, and the place was not. 
There are some settlers in its vicinity, who appear 
to be getting about them the comforts of life. They 
have many of them tolerable good clearances, 
plenty of stock, comfortable houses, &c, and seem 
to be well contented. It is astonishing with what 
patience and fortitude, many new settlers endure 
their first hardships, and in some cases they are of 
no ordinary stamp ; yet it must be borne in mind, 
that they have the strongest and most rational stimu- 
lants to persevere and overcome present difficul- 
ties, — to forego, at least for a time, many of the 
comforts of life. They feel they are working on 
their own soil, their freehold land, and either he or 
his family will one day or other reap the advan- 
tages. These recollections seem to sweeten all 
the toils and fatigues endured more or less by every 
new settler. Every acre of land he converts from 
the wilderness into cultivation is his own ; every 
tree he fells, adds to his real property. These are 
stimulants that will naturally operate on the mind 
of every man, to urge him on in spite of a little 
present fatigue and privation ; to make every ef- 
fort in his power to become the independent pos- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 133 

sessor of the soil he treads on, and that which will 
supply food for himself and family. 

On the Dundas-street, about fifteen miles far- 
ther, is the little picturesque town of Dundas, si- 
tuated at the bottom of an immensely deep glen ; 
the road ascends for many miles before coming to 
this glen, it then descends at least three miles, and 
is in some places very steep, down to the town of 
Dundas. It is a little compact, neat place, of some 
business too. There are four or five stores of ra- 
ther a superior kind. Dundas is a place that will 
immediately strike the traveller who has ever seen 
the romantic scenery of Switzerland. It is sur- 
rounded on every side by hills, rising abruptly 
above the town, which are traversed in every di- 
rection by circuitous winding paths leading to the 
numerous dwellings — built, some on the summit, 
and others on the sides of those hills. Dundas is 
a second Switzerland; its romantic scenery is 
worth travelling a long distance to see : it is a place 
of considerable trade with the more inland country, 
and likely to become more so. A canal, called 
Desjardins' Canal, is now nearly completed, 1 to 
communicate between Dundas and Hamilton, a 
distance of five miles, where it unites with the na- 
vigation at the head of Lake Ontario. In this part 
of the country, there is quite an accumulation of 



134 CANADA AS IT [3. 

small towns. There are Dundas, Ancaster, and 
Hamilton, all places of considerable business and 
population, and all within ten miles of each other. 
Ancaster is much larger than Dundas ; it is a place 
of longer standing, and more business. There 
are no other parts of the province that bear com- 
parison with this neighborhood ; the roads, the 
buildings, the farms, and towns, are on a very su- 
perior scale ; the inns particularly, are conducted 
in a much beUcr style than those in many other 
parts of the province. 

Ancaster is a prosperous bustling town ; it has 
all the appearance of a regular established place ; 
it resembles many others, when its prosperity is 
insured by the spirit and enterprise of its inhabi- 
tants. Such appears to be the character of the 
merchants of Ancaster; they show all the charac- 
teristics of bustling activity; they are shop-keepers, 
merchants, farmers, potash-makers, bankers — in 
fact, they unite all the chief services of the pros- 
perity of the country within themselves. 

Ancaster lies in the direct road to the now at- 
tractive settlement of London, in the western dis- 
trict. This settlement is about eighty miles above 
Ancaster; the roads all the way are good. The 
London settlement is now becoming a place of as 
much attraction as any new place in the province. 



CANADA AS IT IS. 135 

It is situated on the river Thames, flowing into 
Lake Erie. There are the towns of London, 
Westminster, Brentford, Richmond, Oxford, and 
many other familiar names, all newly sprung up 
here, and mostly on the river Thames. The lands 
in this part of the province are without doubt the 
most productive of any in the country. On new 
land, they frequently get here from fifty to sixty 
bushels of wheat to an acre. If they can average 
forty, or even thirty, at the price that wheat has 
been lately realizing, even in the remotest parts of 
the Upper Province, it must pay well. They have 
been getting, during the whole of this last season, 
a dollar a bushel. Now supposing a man buys a 
lot of land at four dollars an acre, which is the 
highest price, for wild land, unless in peculiar situa- 
tions, (be it observed here, that all purchasers of 
land in this country ought to calculate, that out of 
every hundred acres he buys, he must expect, upon 
an average, to get twenty acres of uncultivatable 
land,) consequently it will cost him twenty-five 
shillings, an acre, the cost of twenty acres, there- 
fore, would be twenty-five pounds; to chop it 
will be about eight dollars an acre, forty pounds ; 
to log, burn, and fence it, about eight dollars an 
acre more, another forty pounds ; the seed neces- 
sary for twenty acres, will be twenty bushels — 



£36 t CANADA AS IT IS. 

twenty dollars, or five pounds; a bushel of wheat 
to an acre is quite enough for new land ; if more 
is sown it is worse than a loss of seed; for it tends 
to stifle the growth of the whole ; the cutting, 
housing, and threshing of the above crop would be 
about twenty pounds more, making a total outlay 
of one hundred and thirty pounds. Now suppo- 
sing the land to average a crop of thirty bushels to 
the acre, which would be six hundred bushels, at 
a dollar a bushel — six hundred dollars — one hun- 
dred and fifty pounds being a surplus of twenty 
pounds over the whole outlay ; thus the first crop 
would pay for the land, clearing it, and putting it 
in a state of cultivation. The calculation here 
made, is upon the consideration that the settler 
hires and pays for all the labor necessary to com- 
plete the above undertaking. But suppose him to 
be an industrious character, working hard himself, 
or having a large family, with sons able to assist 
him, by which means he might be able to do all, or 
nearly all within himself. What an important sav- 
ing this would be ! and people with large families, 
if well brought up, have a much better chance of 
succeeding here than those without. 

The settlement of London is rapidly accumula- 
ting, and there is little doubt that this will be one 
of the finest parts of Upper Canada, when the 



CANADA AS IT IS, *37 

means of transport for their surplus produce are 
better established, such as the Welland and Rideau 
Canals, &c. There are many persons from the 
older settlements flocking to this new place of at" 
traction. London and Westminster are but yet 
very small and thinly populated places, but in the 
country between them are many good farms, while 
the lands are being fast taken up, and the trees are 
rapidly cut. Oxford is already a pretty little vil- 
lage, containing some twenty or thirty houses, and 
is one of those new interesting little villages just 
budding into existence. The remarkable goodness 
of the roads here, as well as the fertility of the soil,, 
will greatly tend to the increase of these new set- 
tlements. The climate, likewise, is more tempe- 
rate than in the northern parts of the province. 
Fruit of all descriptions grow in prodigious quanti- 
ties, and peaches, in particular, are plentiful 
enough to feed pigs on, and they form a very good 
and fattening food. The forest in this part has 
altogether a different appearance to what it pre- 
sents in any other part of the province. There 
is little or no underbrush. The trees are so wide 
apart in some places, that a coach and six might 
be drawn amongst them, and the timber very large 
and tall, a circumstance that denotes, amongst 
other criterions, the richness and goodness of the 



138 CANADA AS IT IS. 

soil. This is a part of the country where the wild 
turkeys will occasionally be met with ; they are 
sometimes in flocks of twenty and thirty together ; 
they are larger than the tame turkeys, sometimes 
weighing thirty-seven pounds ; they run exceeding- 
ly fast, and, in fact, seldom attempt to fly, trusting 
to the swiftness of their speed in running as- their 
means of escape, resembling, in this respect, the 
ostrich. 

Beyond the London settlement, on the shores of 
Lake Erie, is the celebrated and extensive settle- 
ment of Colonel Talbot, known as Talbot's Settle- 
ment, extending many miles. Colonel Talbot, the 
original settler, obtained from government a very 
extensive grant of lands, upon the condition of his 
making actual settlements on it, and from every 
settler whom he can induce to locate on a lot of 
land, he has the privilege of retaining a certain 
other portion. The Colonel has been here many 
years, has a very large farm and establishment, 
and under his management the settlement has in- 
creased prodigiously. It is the extent of the pro- 
vince in this direction, being on the borders of 
Lake Erie, which divides Canada from the United 
States. 

Hamilton, situated at the very head of the Lake 
Ontario, is about ten miles below Ancaster, at the 



CANADA AS IT IS. 139 

liead of Lake Ontario ; it is a place that has grown 
up entirely within these few years, as about five 
years ago, not a vestige of it was in existence ; it 
now contains a population of fifteen hundred or 
two thousand inhabitants. Lake Ontario is rather 
of a triangular shape, about two hundred miles in 
length, and averaging about eighty to one hun- 
dred miles in breadth, taking the distance from 
Prescott to York. The part between York and 
Niagara might be taken as absolutely the extent 
of the lake itself, but at this portion commences 
an inlet of the lake, which runs up fifty miles, at 
the head of which inlet the town of Hamilton is 
built. 

The accumulated waters of this country, flowing 
into a comparatively small channel, forms a matter 
of deep consideration for the contemplative mind ; 
here are the waters of Ontario, the least of the 
three sisters ; Erie next, and Huron a giantess to 
either of them ; and all these inland seas pour 
their united torrents into the noble St. Lawrence. 
In addition to these, are the waters of the Ottawa, 
with her thousand streams forming their junction 
in a manner truly astonishing ; the wonder natu- 
rally created in the mind is, how these accumula- 
ted bodies can find vent in a stream so comparative 
ly small; yet such is the fact. Neither Huron 
K 



140 CANADA AS IT IS. 

Erie nor Ontario, has any other outlet, and Ottawa 
flows immediately into Lake St. Louis, and there 
joins the St. Lawrence ; nor is the St. Lawrence of 
that depth, to account satisfactorily for the accu- 
mulation of so vast a body. 

The extent of the vast inland resources of navi- 
gation of this country, can be estimated only in a 
very minor degree by the appearance even of the 
St. Lawrence ; when the means now in operation 
are completed, there will be a route of unbroken 
inland navigation for a distance of from seven hun- 
dred to a thousand miles, taking the route from 
Lachine, by the Ottawa, to Grenville, through its 
canal again into the Ottawa to the mouth of the 
Rideau Canal, and by it to Kingston, from thence 
by Lake Ontario to the Welland Canal, and through 
which, into Lake Erie. These great water com- 
munications offer the means of an inland naviga- 
tion, of an extent probably, unparalleled in the 
world. What an amazing extent of country is 
here, nine tenths and more of which, are yet in a 
useless state ! What if we have forty thousand 
emigrants out this season, scatter them over these 
provinces, and where are they felt ? It is true, that 
they may at first rush in like a torrent, and stop 
up the passages leading to the regular and natural 
channels of their several destinations, but let them 



CANADA AS IT IS. 141 

spread themselves regularly and gradually over the 
country, let them go where their assistance is really 
wanted, and it will be found that an annual ad- 
dition of emigrants, almost to any amount, is what 
these provinces will still stand in need of for many 
years to come. 

Hamilton, mentioned before, at the head of On- 
tario, and immediately communicating with its 
waters, is the place where all the produce coming 
from Dundas, Ancaster, and the places above, is 
shipped for transportation downward. When the 
canal (Desjardins) which is to communicate with 
Dundas, &c, is finished, Hamilton must become 
a place of considerable importance ; it is already 
a bustling, busy town, increasing fast in popula- 
tion, buildings, and trade, and is a great tho- 
roughfare both in summer and winter ; in the for- 
mer season a steamer comes up from York, and 
another daily, from Niagara, it lies also in the im- 
mediate route, by land, between York and Niagara, 
and also takes in the thoroughfare from the Lon- 
don District, the settlements on the shores of 
Lake Erie, &c. ; in fact, Hamilton is one of those 
new places just dawning into prosperity ; not that 
these symptoms of the rising importance of the 
country are confined to Hamilton or to any other 
given place, they are general and observable in every 
K2 



142 CANADA AS IT IS. 

part of Canada, and while she enjoys the present 
liberal policy of her mother country, she must go 
on and prosper in her commerce and agricul- 
ture. 

A little below Hamilton is Burlington Bay r 
formed in a singular manner by a narrow shoal 
running across the inlet, about four miles broad ; 
it is canaled in one part for the passage of vessels. 
Hamilton is situated exceedingly low, being sur- 
rounded by high lands on all sides, yet it appears 
not to be an unhealthy place, although, in hot 
weather, immense vapors arise here, but they as- 
cend, and consequently, those residing in the low- 
est situations feel the least effect from them. A 
few years ago, the fever and ague was very preva- 
lent, and it was remarked that those who resided 
in the most elevated situations, had it the most 
severely, indeed, the same remarks have applied 
to many other places. These diseases, however, 
are purely local,. and they recede as the country 
becomes cleared and open ; in fact, in the forest 
the natural climate of the country has not a fair 
chance ; there is but little admission either of air or 
sun, from the thick foliage of the almost impervious 
forest, all is stagnant and humid ; but clear away 
those impediments, open the country, admit a free 
current of air and the influence of the sun,, and. 



CANADA AS IT IS. 14# 

there will not be found a healthier climate in the 
world. 

The tour of inhabited Canada is now very near- 
ly made, but the most interesting wonder of the 
country, and that which is equally the astonish- 
ment and wonder of the world, remains yet to be 
seen, and such is the intense interest excited by 
this stupendous work of nature, that a person who 
has seen them ninety and nine times, would be 
equally anxious to view them the hundredth* 

The Falls of Niagara are about sixty miles 
from Hamilton, the road from that place to the 
town of Niagara being fifty miles, and almost all 
by the lake shores. The first place of any conse- 
quence, after leaving Hamilton, is the pretty little 
town of St. Catharine, situated in the centre of a 
finely settled and cleared country ; it contains 
about a thousand inhabitants, the houses and build- 
ings are exceedingly good, and its site is on a 
rising ground, which keeps the place at all times 
dry and clean. The face of the surrounding coun- 
try assumes quite a different appearance to thai 
apparent in many oilier parts of Canada. The 
forest can be seen only at intervals, here is a 
continuation of farms upon rather a large scale, 
extensive tracts of cleared country, hill and 
dale, all open to view, with the comfortable look- 
K3 



144 CANADA AS IT IS. 

ing farmhouse, snug and compact outbuildings, 
regularly square laid out fields, all well fenced, 
and none of those common excrescences of the 
country, the stumps. 

The town of Niagara is situated at the mouth 
of the Niagara River, on the shores of Lake On- 
tario, eighteen miles below the falls, and is the 
largest and best town on the western side of the 
lake. This part of the country is called the Gar- 
den of Upper Canada, and certain it is, that the 
climate here, though only thirty-six miles across 
the lake from York, is much milder. Grapes 
grow here to a large size, also cherries, and in 
fact, all descriptions of fruit in prodigious quanti- 
ties, and vegetables are raised nearly a month 
earlier than at York. Niagara is not by any means 
a place of the commercial importance of York, 
nor has it the numerous settled townships pre- 
sented in the vicinity of that place, it will be ob- 
served, that this is the extent of the British terri- 
tories in Upper Canada, consequently, it has not the 
number of back settlements to support its trade as 
is the case with its sister town, still Niagara is 
considered of sufficient importance to send a re- 
presentative to the house of assembly. Niagara 
is not considered so healthy a situation as some 
other parts of the province, being very subject to 



CANADA AS IT IS. 145 

the lake fever, certain it is, that the inhabitants 
generally, have not so healthy an appearance, they 
have a yellowish kind of color, and are termed the 
yellow heads ; the town is a very great thorough- 
fare in the summer, it lies in the immediate way 
from York to the States, and to the falls ; and the 
immense numbers of visiters flocking to and from 
the falls, in the course of the season, is a matter 
of no small consideration to the town, and renders it 
very animated and gay ; numerous parties of plea- 
sure from the States make this their regular tour in 
the summer ; from hence to York, down the Onta- 
rio to Montreal, Quebec, &c. 

Seven miles above Niagara, on the immediate 
banks of the river, is Queenston, a neat place, 
standing on very high ground, the banks of the 
river are here exceedingly steep and high, the river 
is about a quarter of a mile wide and very rapid. 
Queenston was the scene of many a sanguinary con- 
flict during the last war, between the British and 
American forces, it was here that the lamented and 
brave General Brock, the hero of Upper Canada 
lost his life, he fell while gallantly leading'his troops. 
This place immediately fronts Lewiston, the Ame- 
rican frontier town on the opposite bank of the 
river Niagara. Lewiston is a handsome town, 
which appears to be newly built, it is already a 
K4 



146 CANADA AS IT IS. 

place of some consequence ; there are stages run- 
ning daily from hence to Buffalo, Rochester, Lock- 
port, Albany, New-York, &c. &c. 

Queenston is eleven miles from the falls, and if 
the weather be still and calm a rumbling noise may 
be heard, it increases more and more, now pro- 
ducing the noise of distant thunder, still louder and 
louder, till at last it becomes a terrific roar : no- 
thing can yet be seen of the falls, the river is rapid 
and its banks are very steep, the mind of the tra- 
veller is prepared for something extraordinary, 
every moment the long anticipated delight is ex- 
pected, but when it bursts on the view, no pen 
can describe the sensations of amazement that are 
excited by first beholding those wondrous objects 
of sublimity and grandeur, the mind becomes lost 
in the mazes of its own reflections. 

Hark ! on the winds, methinks I hear the roar 
Of " Waters — 'tis a voice from that dark gulf" 
Where Erie meets Ontario — and it comes 
Like the deep yell of many wandering spirits. 
Niagara ! who that has ever seen 
Thy torrents of a thousand streams and lakes, 
Their dark deep foaming mass of waters pour 
Into thy foaming chasm of death, or gaz'd 
As it did rush, aa 'twere, from the infinite height 
Of Heaven, and seem'd as it had hence brought down 
The rainbow, blast, and thunder, such the light 
Around thy brow, and sudden rush of winds — 
And ceaseless, ponderous peals of sound, — or who 
Hath been beneath these everlasting walls 
Of tumbling torrent, and unshaken rock, 



CANADA AS IT IS. 147" 

Arch'd as a palace of magnificence, 
Where nature reigns in dark sublimity, 
And felt not an oppressive sense of power 
And majesty of Him, who thus doth pour 
The cataract from his palm. 

Niagara! if now thou'rt grand — 
Far grander still, when haunts of men were not 
Upon thy shore, and the vast solitude 
Of boundless, trackless wilderness, through which 
Thou'st worn thy deep and rock-bound path, appeared, 
Awe struck, to tremble at thy dreadful voice. 

About five miles above the cataract, the river 
expands to the dimensions of a lake, after which 
it gradually narrows ; the rapids commence at the 
upper extremity of Goat Island, which is half a 
mile in length, and divides the rtver at the point 
of precipitation into two unequal parts, the largest 
is distinguished by the several names of Horse- 
shoe, Crescent and British Fall, from its semicircu- 
lar form and contiguity to the Canadian shore ; 
the smaller is named the American Fall, which is 
divided by a rock from Goat Island. The cur- 
rent runs about six miles an hour, but supposing 
it to be only five, the quantity of water which 
passes the falls in an hour is more than 85,000,000 
of tons avoirdupois ; if we suppose it to be six, it 
will be more than 102,000,000, and in a day would 
exceed 24,000,000,000 of tons. 

On visiting the cavern beneath the fall, the tra- 
veller should take advantage of a line morning, 
K5 



148 CANADA AS IT IS. 

and after providing himself with a guide, set out as 
early as six o'clock, that he might have the advan- 
tage of the sun upon the waters, he should disen- 
cumber himself of such garments as he does not 
care to have wetted ; descending the circular lad- 
der, he follows the course of the path running 
along the top of the debris of the precipice, and hav- 
ing pursued this tract for about eighty yards, in 
the course of which he will get completely drench- 
ed, he finds himself close to the cataract, although 
enveloped in a cloud of spray, the direction of the 
path and the nature of the cavern about to be en- 
tered may be readily distinguished : the difficulty 
in respiration is very great when surrounded by 
the spray, and after being blown about, and buffet- 
ted by the wind, stunned by the noise, and blinded 
by the spray, (each successive gust penetrating the 
very bones with cold,) he at length arrives, and hav- 
ing collected his senses by degrees, the wonders 
of this cavern slowly develope themselves ; it is 
impossible to describe the strange unnatural light 
reflecting through its crystal walls, the roar of the 
waters and the blasts of the hurricane, which per- 
petually rages in its recesses. The cavern is tole- 
rably light, and the sun may clearly be distinguish- 
• ed through the watery barrier ; the fall of the cata- 
ract is nearly perpendicular, the bank over which 



CANADA AS IT IS. 149 

it is precipitated is of a concave form, owing to its 
upper stratum being composed of limestone, and 
its base of soft slabstone, which has been eaten 
away by the constant attrition of the recoiling 
waters. The cavern is about one hundred and 
twenty feet in height, fifty in breadth, and three 
hundred in length. There is one other point 
which may be visited, except the wind blow full 
upon the sheet of the cataract, when it drives the 
water with great force against a point of the rock 
which must be passed, and thus cuts off the com- 
munication : a few yards beyond, the precipice 
becomes perpendicular and blends with the water, 
forming the extremity of the cave ; the eel and the 
water-snake crawl about its recesses in considera- 
ble numbers. 

In September, 1827, a very singular and inte- 
resting spectacle, of which due notice had been 
given for months before, took place at the Falls of 
Niagara ; from ten to twelve thousand persons 
from all parts of the Canadas and the United States 
were present. There are three good and exten- 
sive hotels near the falls, and the proprietors, with 
the view of attracting the attention of the compa- 
ny, purchased an old sloop, called the Michigan, 
which had been a lake vessel for some years, of 
about four hundred tons burden, to descend, or 



150 CANADA AS IT IS. 

rather to be hurled, over the falls. The extreme 
novelty of the sight, had attracted immense bodies 
of people, and what added highly to the curiosity 
was, that her crew consisted of wild animals ; there 
were shipped on board, a few miles above the falls, 
two huge bears, two wolves, some racoons, foxes, 
deer, pigs, geese, &c. &c. She was towed down 
the lake, very near the falls, by the Queenston 
steam-boat ; when the Michigan got near to the 
precipice, she went over on one side, of which ac- 
cident, the bears, more on the alert than their bro- 
ther shipmates, took prompt advantage, for they 
no sooner found the vessel stranded, than they 
made a plunge in the water and swam safely to the 
shore, to the no small diversion of the bystanders ; 
the vessel, however, soon righted and qame over 
the precipice (a fall of one hundred and sixty feet) 
with a most tremendous crash — she broke right in 
two, and the only living animal taken out of her 
was one of the geese. 

There is an idea entertained, and by no means 
an unfeasible one, that the falls at one time were 
much farther down the river towards Ontario, or 
even quite near the lake itself, this is by no means 
improbable, for the perpetual attrition of the waters, 
on a substance however hard it may be, must in 
the space of time considerably wear it away ; a 



CANADA AS IT IS. 151 

gentleman, who lives close by the falls ,. has ob- 
served, that within the period of his residence here, 
they have visibly receded. 

The great accumulation of visiters to the falls, 
in the course of a season, affords a rich harvest to 
the hotel keepers and others who live in their im- 
mediate vicinity, and they are always on the alert 
to devise some novel and extraordinary feat, inde- 
pendant of the natural attractiveness of the place. 
To amuse and prolong the stay of visiters, for some 
seasons past, they have had an annual fall jumper, 
in the person of Sam Patch, who has since at 
one fell swoop, jumped into another world ; this 
Sam Patch made the leap of Niagara Falls more 
than once with safety, he jumped from the top of 
the precipice of the highest fall, into the gulf 
below, an undertaking of unparalleled boldness. 
The tremendous rushing of the waters into the 
cauldron below, the perpetual foaming and roar- 
ing of the troubled element, the immense height of 
the torrent, and all the features of this vast scene, 
are quite enough to appal the mind of anybeholder; 
but for a man to hurl himself from the top, and 
plunge into the foaming waters below, shows a 
daring of no ordinary stamp ; however, this man 
performed it with safety, he came out quite unhurt 
at a short distance below the falls. At another 



152 CANADA AS IT IS. 

place he repeated this feat once too often ; he was 
hired to jump the Genesee Falls some miles below 
Rochester, in the States : the Genesee Falls arc 
small when compared with those of Niagara, and in- 
order still to increase the novelty of the scene, a 
stage was erected at the top of the fall, so as to ele- 
vate the height of the jump that this unfortunate man 
was to make, it is said that he was somewhat in li- 
quor at the time, he flung himself off and never was 
seen alive again ; he was taken out x>f the water 
a few miles below the falls quite dead ; it was said 
he lost his usual confidence at this last attempt. 

Birds. — The feathered tribes of Canada are ex- 
tremely numerous ; many of the kinds are to be 
seen only at stated times of the year; indeed there 
are many different species, known only to those 
who happen to go into the peculiar parts of the 
country which they inhabit ; and, as has been be- 
fore observed, no kind of birds, and scarcely any 
living wild animal, is to be seen here in the dead 
of winter ; in fact, the natural productions of this 
country are only to be known by a residence of 
some years, and it is only by penetrating the fo- 
rest, and closely observing its almost hidden pro- 
ductions, that any just idea can be formed of its 
natural capabilities. 

The Canadian Partridge or Pheasant, is nearly 



fANADA AS IT IS. , 153' 

as large as the European Hen Pheasant, of much 
the same color, and spotted on the breast ; but 
the most remarkable feature in the Canadian Par- 
tridge is its tail, which is, when spread, the shape- 
and size of a fan, it has decidedly more the habits 
of the pheasant than of the partridge, it pitches in 
the trees, and has the same motion when on the 
ground, with many other habits peculiar to the 
pheasant at home, its flesh too is very similar in 
flavor and delicacy of appearance ; the hen lays 
fourteen or sixteen eggs ; they have a very singu- 
lar habit, in the laying season, which is termed 
drumming, it is the cock bird calling his mate ; 
this he does by perching on a log of wood or a 
stump, and about every ten minutes, through the 
day, he makes a buzzing kind of noise by flutter- 
ing his wings and feathers for a few minutes, and 
ends by flapping his wings hard against his sides 
in repeated strokes, which at a little distance has 
very much the sound of a muffled drum ; this habit 
often proves fatal to them, for they are easily dis- 
covered by this noise, and although it is at a time 
of the year when they ought not to be killed, the 
settler does not often scruple to do so, being sel- 
dom guided by true sportsmanlike principles ; the 
Canadian Partridge is at all times a stupid bird, 
and a person may approach very near to them* 



154 CANADA AS IT IS. 

They sometimes flock together in coveys, but in 
general are to be seen only by two or three toge- 
ther. It is a singular fact, that should there be a 
dozen or more of these birds on a tree, the sports- 
man may keep firing, provided he take the lowest 
bird first at each shot, and insure himself the whole 
covey, but he must not stop to pick them up, but 
keep on firing till they are all killed ; by taking 
the under bird at each shot, so that it does not fall 
to disturb any of the others, and keeping up the 
noise by firing or whistling, he attracts their at- 
tention and keeps them from flying away. 

The bird that most resembles the European 
Partridge in all but in disparity of size, is called 
here the quail; they are precisely the same in form 
and color, and have all the habits peculiar to those 
birds ; they keep together in coveys of considera- 
ble numbers ; they are to be met with in the field 
after the grain is taken away; they never pitch in 
bushes or trees ; they fly low, have the same creep- 
ing manner of moving, and are in every respect 
the same kind of bird ; they are very fat and deli- 
cious eating, but are rarely if ever seen in the 
northern parts of Canada; they are very numerous 
near and above York, and in the upper districts. 
There is to be seen occasionally, in the winter, 
near the Ottawa, the White Partridge, the par- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 155 

tridge inhabiting any part of Upper Canada, as 
high as fifty miles above the Chats, do not turn 
white, as has been stated by some writers, they 
retain their brown color all the winter ; those which 
are seen about that neighborhood are migraters 
from the north west. 

There are two kinds of plovers, the gray and the 
black and white, the gray plover is mostly to be 
seen in the fall of the year; they are a very shy 
bird, fat and good eating ; the black and white 
plover, though very rarely seen in northern Canada, 
are to be met with in immense flocks above York, 
and in the western districts, so much so as some- 
times to darken the air ; they are much larger than 
the gray plover : the plover, like the pigeon, is 
not a native of Canada, but migrates from the south; 
they are met at some periods of the year crossing 
and recrossing the lakes in the upper country, 
thus they must fly some hundreds of miles at a 
stretch. Woodcocks are plenty in the low marshy 
parts of the country, they are not more than two 
thirds the size of the English Woodcock, but are 
much the same in color and richness of flavor. 
The Canadian Snipe is very nearly the same as 
that of Europe. 

There are four kinds of woodpeckers in Canada, 
the black, the brown and red, or pigeon woodpeck- 



£56 CANADA AS IT IS. 

er, the white and red, and the small speckled ; the 
black woodpecker, or cock of the woods, as he 
is generally called, is something larger than a 
pigeon, and is a handsome bird ; the body is black ; 
under the wings yellow and white ; a bright crimson 
tuft on the cap of its head, with a white ring round 
the eyes; it has a remarkably strong, clear and 
shrill note, and is a prognosticator of the weather, 
for it is generally remarked, that when it is more 
vociferous than usual, it portends rain ; it has an 
amazingly strong beak, and a tongue that will ex- 
tend nearly a foot in length, the end of which is 
tipped with a hard bony substance, and bores the 
same as a gimblet ; this bird keeps mostly in the 
woods. Woodpeckers in general, are great fore- 
warners of danger, for they leave those unequivocal 
marks in all the rotten and decayed trees, by which 
means they are easily discovered in the forests. 

The brown or pigeon woodpecker, is about the 
same size as a pigeon ; this is also a handsome 
bird ; it is of a bright yellowish brown, speckled on 
the breast ; a tuft of gold color on its back, with a 
red poll. This bird mostly frequents the open 
clearances, and is sometimes seen in flocks to- 
gether. They are good eating. 

The small speckled woodpecker appears to be a 
solitary bird, seldom seen in company, and inhabit- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 157 

ing the secluded part of the woods ; it is small, but 
appears to possess prodigious strength in its head 
and neck. 

The white and red, or quarrelsome woodpecker, 
is always to be found in the clearances and about 
the buildings ; they are eternally quarrelling and 
fighting with each other, which sometimes even 
ends in the death of one of them. They are rather 
a small bird, white on the back, with black breasts 
and wings, and red heads ; the noise which these 
birds make in boring with their beaks, is beyond 
conception ; they do great mischief in shingled 
roof houses, which they bore to get at the grubs, 
&c, and which sounds, to a person in the inside, 
the same as the boring of an auger. 

Some of the birds of this country, are of ex- 
treme richness and brilliancy of plumage, the most 
conspicuous of which is the cardinal. The car- 
dinal is a bird only to be seen in the extreme 
western parts of the upper province, and then but 
rarely ; it is more common in the Slates ; the car- 
dinal is so named from its having, longitudinally, 
streaks on its body, of scarlet and black, some- 
what similar to the splendid robes worn by those 
high dignitaries ; it is about the size of the black- 
bird ; the colors of its plumage are inconceivably 
L 



15S CANADA AS IT IS. 

bright, and it has an appearance, when flying, of 

dazzling splendor. 

The fire bird is of a deep red colour, with a little 

black on its head and wings ; it is about the size of 

the lark, and is to be seen in most parts of the 

province. 

The Canadian King-fisher is about the same size 

as the European, very much inferior with regard to 
brilliancy of plumage, being rather an ugly bird, but 
precisely the same in its habits. 

The Loon is a singular bird, it inhabits the water, 
is never seen out of it, and is therefore never seen 
to fly ; it is nearly as large as the goose, and has a 
black head, with a white ring round its neck, and 
speckled body; its skin is so thick, tough and 
strong, that bags are made of it for the preserva- 
tion of any thing from wet ; the Loon is continually 
diving in the water after the fish ; it is extremely 
difficult to kill. 

Of all the singular and interesting little members 
of the feathered community, the Humming Bird 
stands the foremost ; it is a native of the States, 
but migrates in the summer, and is occasionally 
seen in all parts of the Canadas ; they are of dif- 
ferent colors and sizes ; some are not much larger 
than a cock-chafer; their color can scarcely be 



CANADA AS IT IS. 159 

descried until they are caught, for they are in 
an iacessant buz and flutter ; they appear seldom 
to alight on any thing, but in their continual flut- 
tering, they dip their little beaks first in one flower 
and then in another ; they seem to live entirely by 
the suction they derive from different flowers, par- 
ticularly from the blossom of scarlet beans; they are 
of a variety of colors, green, blue, yellow, purple, 
"&c, the only way to shoot them is to load a gun 
with sand instead of shot. Under no circumstances 
can the humming bird be tamed, or bear the least 
confinement. 

There are two kinds of owls in Canada ; 
they are both large, the smallest kind is larger 
than the common owl at home ; they make a most 
horrible screeching noise in the night, and in the 
forests it is heard for miles when the weather is 
calm ; the largest kind is the horned owl, which is 
an immense bird, much larger in body than the 
turkey ; this owl, with its pointed horns and im- 
mense glaring eyes, has a most terrific appearance, 
particularly when come upon suddenly in the 
woods, for they generally appear sleeping; and 
when first disturbed, they look as if they would at 
once devour you ; these birds are fortunately not 
very numerous ; they sometimes do much mischief 
by devouring fowls, geese, turkeys, and even young 
L2 



160 CANADA AS IT IS. 

pigs ; they have in many respects more of the fe- 
rocity and habits of the hawk. 

Of hawks there are four kinds, the largest is the 
hen hawk, which is very large, and will be often 
seen hovering around the houses and barns, and 
if an opportunity offer it will dart down and take 
up a hen or a chicken, or indeed both in his talons, 
and fly off with them ; the next in size is the fish- 
ing hawk, this bird is a most expert fisherman, it 
sits watching on the brink of the stream, and the 
instant a fish appears, it dives into the water, and 
seldom fails in obtaining its prey ; it is a singular 
sight to see them flying through the air, with pro- 
bably a large pike or other fish securely loeked in 
their talons ; the sparrow hawk is of the smallest 
description, its prey is on small birds ; the night 
hawk is a curious bird, appearing only at night ; it 
ascends through the night with rapid flight to an 
immense height, and then suddenly drops itself to 
the ground as if shot ; this is probably some ma- 
noeuvre to catch the numerous flies that hover in 
the air by night. 

There is in Canada a pretty singing bird, called 
Tom-o-lincoln, it is about the size of the black-bird^, 
it is generally to be seen in meadows, perched in 
small bushes, and sings most melodiously and in 
great variety of notes. 



CANADA AS IT ISr 161 

The Canadian Nightingale is the evening song- 
ster of the forest ; as the sun is taking his final 
leave, the chaste notes of the nightingale are heard 
thrilling through the deep recesses of the woods ; 
there is a peculiar plaintiveness in them, yet sweet 
and melodious in their effect. 

The Thrush is a bird much the same in size as 
the English Thrush, but different in colour, it is of 
a dingy yellow, with a very long tail ; it sings har- 
moniously, and in other respects precisely the 
same as that of Europe. 

In the fall of the year starlings are observed in 
large flocks, to proclaim the approach of winter. 

The Canadian Black-bird is generally to be found 
in marshy places ; it is about the size of the thrush, 
of a glossy black colour, having some red on the 
tip of its wings. 

• Snow bird : this is a bird that is never seen but 
when the snow is on the ground ; it is much about 
the size of the lark, with a considerable portion of 
white in its color : they fly in very large flocks. 

The Canadian Lark is in size much the same as 
the English Sky Lark, but it keeps entirely on the 
ground. 

The goldfinch or canary is more in colour like 
the latter, being of a bright yellow, or gold color, 
L3 



162 CANADA AS IT IS. 

intermixed with a little black ; it appears to be of 
the same habits as the goldfinch at home. 

Of sparrows there are three kinds, which appear 
to have much the same habits as sparrows in gene- 
ral, but widely different in color; the first and 
largest is a bird not generally seen till the fall ; it 
is of a bright azure color and looks very pretty ; 
the next is smaller, and of a deep blue color ; the 
other kind is still smaller, and of a perfect green 
color; so totally unlike any other small birds, 
which are generally of a brownish hue ; these little 
bright plumaged birds have a very pretty appearance. 

The largest of the feathered tribe here, is the 
bald-headed eagle ; this is a very sagacious bird, 
very powerful and rarely to be approached ; the 
bald-head is easily to be distinguished in its lofty 
flight. One of these birds was shot in the upper coun- 
try some time ago, which measured from the tip of 
one wing to that of the other, thirteen feet, and from 
the point of the beak to the end of its tail, five feet 
ten inches ; they mostly inhabit the tops of the 
mountains, or any other unfrequented spots. 

Here are four kinds of wild ducks, the black, 
the red head, the wood duck, and the common 
brown water duck. The black duck is a very fine 
bird ; in size between the tame duck and goose ; 
its flesh is rich and good ; the red heads are 



CANADA AS IT IS. 168 

nearly as large as the black duck, and are 
also a very excellent eating bird ; the wood 
duck is of a light brown color, unlike any 
other of its species ; it pitches in the trees, and 
builds its nests there also ; the common dark 
brown water duck is of the usual size ; all these 
species are to be met with more or less through the 
provinces, but in the upper country, in the fall of 
the year, they flock together in myriads on the 
lakes. 

Of tame fowl there is an abundance kept in both 
provinces, with the exception of ducks, and these 
are generally very scarce throughout the country. 
Of tame geese there is an abundance all over 
the country, and they are profitable from the quan- 
tity of feathers they produce ; it is the custom here, 
to pluck them alive once or twice a-year, and thus 
procure vast quantities of feathers ; they are here 
yoked in the same manner as pigs, to prevent them 
getting into the grain, &c, which presents rather 
a curious appearance. 

The upper country is an excellent climate for 
turkeys, of which there are in many places vast 
numbers bred. The common fowls too, thrive ex- 
ceedingly well here. There are, in addition to the 
kinds described above, a great variety of water 
fowl, widgeon, teal, &c. &c. 
L4 



164 CANADA AS IT IS. 

The Canadian Rabbit or Hare, is in size between 
the two, but nearer to the latter, and has also more 
of its habits, than of the former ; it does not bur- 
row in the earth ; in color too, it resembles the 
European Hare, or at least in summer ; in the win- 
ter this animal turns nearly white ; when the snow 
is on the ground, they will run to and fro on the 
same tracts for nights together, and are frequently 
taken by snaring. 

The racoon is a short legged animal, with a 
thick body, long bushy tail, and a remarkably sharp 
pointed nose ; it has a fair skin ; when fat, they 
weigh from seven to ten pounds, their flesh is ex-* 
cellent eating. 

Muskrat ; this little animal, in its habits, much re-? 
sembles the beaver, living in little houses curiously 
erected by the water side, so that they can approach 
their dwellings and emerge from them without 
being seen ; it is in size scarcely as large as a cat; 
of a darkish brown color ; they keep entirely in the 
water, except mornings and evenings ; they are a 
disgusting looking animal ; their flesh is eatable ; 
but their fur is the most valuable part of them, and 
for which they are taken. 

The martin is a kind of wild cat, it much resem- 
bles that domestic animal, but is not so large ; it 
has a long slender b6dy, small sharp head, and 



CANADA AS IT IS. 1(35 

bushy tail ; its fur is very fine, which is the object 
in hunting them ; the fur of the martin, as well as 
that of the beaver, is an object of very considerable 
commerce. 

There are two kinds of foxes in Canada, the 
black and the common red fox ; the black fox is 
very rarely seen ; its skin is very valuable ; the 
common red fox is very frequent, and is a sly thief 
amongst the poultry, &c, their skins are of very 
little value ; and such is the nature of the country 
yet, that they cannot be hunted with dogs with 
much success, though at Montreal some gentlemen 
have established a fox-hunting club ; they turn out 
a large field of sportmen well mounted, with scarlet 
coats, caps quite in the regular jockey style, keep 
an excellent pack of hounds, and often get a fine 
run. 

Squirrels, these little animals some seasons com- 
mit serious damage throughout the country ; there 
are two kinds, the black and the red ; the black 
are never in any numbers ; they are a handsome 
little animal ; the red squirrel is smaller than the 
English Squirrel, and not so handsome ; these are 
the destructive kind, but they are not stationary ; 
probably once in six or seven years they come in 
shoals, and destroy great quantities of grain ; in 
1S27, they were here in myriad.^ when thev did se- 
L5 



166 CANADA AS IT IS. 

rious damage ; many instances are known of their 
having cleared nearly whole fields of corn ; and in 
one particular instance, they attacked a field of 
corn, and did not leave a single ear, it in fact al- 
most ruined the poor settler ; when they are in 
shoals, in this manner, it is almost impossible to 
keep them out of the corn ; they travel through the 
country in regular droves, and swim the large 
rivers and lakes in large companies, journeying 
even thousands of miles. 

The Canadian Porcupine is not so large as the 
African, but precisely the same in every other re- 
spect ; it shoots its quills with considerable force 
when attacked ; its flesh is excellent ; the Indians 
appropriate the quills to many purposes of fanciful 
decorations. 

The hedgehog, like that of Europe, has the 
same peculiar habit of rolling itself up like a ball, 
its prickles pointing outwards, forming a barrier 
against all attacks. 

Ground hog : this little animal burrows in ithe 
ground like the rabbit, andhas a head much like it, 
but with no other resemblance to thaf animal ; it 
has a very thick body, remarkably short legs, so 
that it can run but slowly, and when seen above 
gro&nd is easily taken ; its flesh is good. 

'Skunk : this id an animal of much the same habits 



CANADA AS IT IS. 167 

as the polecat, but much larger ; it is destructive 
to poultry ; its chief means of defence appears to 
be carried in a small bag contained under its belly, 
and when attacked, it forces its contents at its as- 
sailant, the stink of which is so disgustingly offen- 
sive as to be almost insufferable. 

Chip Monk : this little creature might be termed 
the rat of the country, it is a little thief of the most 
daring habits ; it has not in color or make the 
least resemblance to the common rat, but its pro- 
pensities are much the same; it is about as long 
as a guinea pig ; and has a head much like that 
, animal, but its body is not half so thick ; the chip 
monk is continually to be seen about buildings and 
clearances ; it is a provident little animal, taking 
care to lay in a good winter's store ; its winter ha- 
bitation is generally in the body of a hollow tree ; 
on the approach of winter it very busily employs 
itself in securing grain or any other provisions 
within its reach, and this it does in a very singular 
manner, which is by cramming both sides of its 
cheeks with grain, or any thing else it can purloin, 
till they are ready to burst, and when met thus 
laden, they have a curious appearance. 

Rats are not yet general in the province, but it 
is much to be feared that they will soon become so, 
for they are already at many places where the na- 



168 CANADA AS IT IS. 

vigation touches at, conveyed by the steam-boats 
to different places. Both house and field mice 
are in abundance through the country. 

The panther or American tiger, as it is sometimes 
called, is an inhabitant of Canada as well as of 
other parts [of the American continent ; they are 
very rarely to be seen ; they are neither so large, 
nor to be compared in beauty with the Bengal 
Tiger. Like other ravenous beasts of the forest, 
they prey upon the smaller animals, and when seen 
here, it is generally in chace of the racoon, of the 
flesh of which they seem particularly fond. 

In treating of the reptiles of this country, there 
are not, as has been observed in a former part of 
this work, any venomous snakes in any part of the 
Canadas, lower than the head of Lake Ontario ; 
there, in all the country above it, on the other side 
of the lake, about Niagara and the country extend- 
ing to Lake Erie, as well as in almost every other 
part of the American continent, the rattlesnake is 
an inhabitant; the bite of this snake, though in 
some instances fatal, is not universally so ; if pro- 
per remedies be applied at the instant of the acci- 
dent, it is often cured ; but this, though very veno- 
mous, is not the most dangerous snake on the 
American continent ; there are two other kinds, 
each of which is more to be feared than the rattle- 



CANADA AS IT IS. 169 

snake ; these are the black snake, called the black 
chasir of Ohio, and the copper-headed snake, a 
very powerful creature, also an inhabitant of the 
States ; the rattlesnake does not molest, even when 
approached, unless irritated, yet they do not fly 
from man as some other of the species, but lie and 
watch you as a cat ; the copper-head, if approach- 
ed, will immediately attack, and this they do in the 
most impetuous manner, they erect their heads, 
which they swell out to the size of a middling pig's 
head, and make a tremendous hissing noise, and 
wo be to those whom they may wound when in 
this state ; the black chasir will follow and attack, 
and are the most dangerous reptile known. The 
rattlesnake and the copper-head are not at enmity 
with each other ; on the contrary, they frequently 
cohabit together, an instance of which is the fol- 
lowing : some two or three years ago, the inhabi- 
tants in the neighborhood of a place called Hills- 
borough, in Ohio, one of the western states of 
America, were so much annoyed with venemous 
snakes in their vicinity, that they were absolutely 
afraid to venture out of their houses. One of the 
inhabitants happened to discover a den of these 
snakes, that is, large holes in the rocks, where they 
were seen to creep in and out ; the neighbors all 
agreed to make a " snake destroying bee," for this 



170 CANADA AS IT IS, 

purpose they prepared themselves with long hookg^ 
and took care duly to protect their persons ; and 
in two days they hooked out of the crevices of the 
rock, upwards of two hundred snakes, mostly of the 
largest size, two thirds of which were rattlesnakes 
and the rest copper-heads, some of them measuring 
upwards of seven feet in length ; the rattlesnake 
and the black chasir are mortal enemies, and when 
coming in close contact, one of them dies, gene- 
rally the former ; a battle was witnessed between 
these two dangerous reptiles in a secluded part of 
the country, in the ^western states, the attack was 
commenced by the black snake, and met by me rat- 
tlesnake with much ferocity, till disabled by the re- 
peated bites of his antagonist ; and, when lying 
prostrate, the black snake repeatedly bit his van- 
quished enemy until satisfied he was quite dead. The 
flesh of the rattlesnake is said to be good. In the dig- 
ging of the Welland Canal, between Lakes Erie and 
Ontario, a few years ago. the workmen had occa- 
sion to blast a rock, in doing which, they met with 
a nest of rattlesnakes, there were sixty-four in num- 
ber ; in their rage, in being thus disturbed, some of 
them coiled themselves up, and bit their own 
bodies, and soon after swelled much, and died ap- 
parently in the greatest agony ; but those that did 
not inflict the deadly wound on themselves, (after 



CANADA AS IT 19. 171 

cutting off their heads, which contains the poison,) 
were cooked and eaten, and were said to be excel- 
lent. It is a singular fact, that the rattlesnake has 
an instinctive dread of the pig, which is exceeding- 
ly fond of the flesh of this snake ; whenever people 
are annoyed by these reptiles near their dwellings, 
they have only to keep a number of pigs, and they 
are sure to get rid of them ; the rattlesnake will 
bite the horse and the cow, and many instances of 
fatality have been known to result from these 
causes, but of the pig they seem to have the 
greatest fear, for the instant the pig approaches, 
they lay perfectly quiet ; he puts his fore paw on 
their head and soon devours them; many other 
snakes Iiave a great dread of the swinish family. 
The rattlesnake herb is said to be an effectual an- 
tidote against the effects of their poison, if applied 
immediately after the wound is given,, and that the 
rattlesnake shows the greatest, abhorrence when, 
approaching this herb. The rattlesnake is of a 
dark brown color, the head is broad and flat, the 
eyes large and very prominent, and when in vigor 
are particularly bright ; they have a hooked tooth 
or fang at each side of the mouth, this tooth is 
hollow, and acts as a tube for the conveyance of 
the deadly liquid, which is contained in a small bag 
at the root of this fang, in its under jaw. The re- 



172 CANADA AS IT IS. 

ceived notion, respecting this animal, is, that they 
acquire an additional rattle every year ; these rat- . 
ties are like so many ivory rings, and when shaken 
they make a clattering kind of noise ; the rattle- 
snake is incapable of making a spring of any 
distance ; it is said that when these snakes are ly- 
ing on the ground, that the dazzling brightness of 
their eyes proves an irresistable charm, and causes 
birds to drop instinctively when flying. 

Spotted snake : the spotted snake is common in 
all parts of Canada; it is about three feet loBg, 
with a dingy white skin covered with large black 
spots ; this little reptile, though free from vene- 
mous qualities, is nevertheless given to thievish 
propensities, and will devour young chickens, &c. 

The common garter snake is also to be seen in 
all parts of the provinces, some of them are rather 
large ; they are marked with black, yellow and 
white stripes ; they frequent the parts near the 
dwellings, into which they sometimes approach ; 
though quite harmless, ^they will, when irritated, 
completely change their color, and from being 
striped become perfectly spotted, and swell out 
nearly twice their usual size. 

Green snake : this is in color a perfect pea-green ; 
very small, with a remarkably small head ; it is not 



CANADA AS IT IS. 173 

more than sixteen inches long ; it is a handsome 
^little harmless creature. 

Yellow snake : this is still a smaller snake than 
the last, and equally harmless. 

Black water snake, which is common in all the 
lakes and rivers in Upper Canada ; some of them 
are very large and are said to be venomous, but 
which is very doubtful ; the following is an instance 
which may be considered pretty conclusive that 
they are not. A boy Went to a river for water, he 
soon came running back with something tightly 
grasped in his hands, saying he had caught a fine 
eel, it was a water snake, and although the boy 
squeezed it tightly to hold it, and kept it in his 
hands for some time, the animal never attempted 
to bite him,~ which seems a good proof that they 
are not venomous. 

Of turtle, there are three or four different kinds ; 
the most common is the small land turtle, inhabit- 
ing the borders of the rivers and ponds ; they are 
handsome little creatures ; in sun shine and hot 
days they are seen sitting in rows by the water side, 
into which they immediately plunge when approach- 
ed ; it is said they are exceeding good eating. 



FINIS. 



JV-J 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




017 299 490 8 



